


LaChy Week(s)

by ErzaDLaw



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Comedy, F/M, Romance, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-08
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2019-08-20 10:27:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 39,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16554053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ErzaDLaw/pseuds/ErzaDLaw
Summary: How will everyone's favorite Celestial Mage win over our sexy Captain's heart? Or does he need to win hers first?





	1. Days and Author's Notes

 

* * *

**There will be no trigger warnings for any of the chapters, it is MA people, and I do not own Fairy Tail. If I did, it would have ended HELLA different.**

Enjoy!

* * *

**2015:**

Day 1: Pontificate

Day 2: Paperclip

Day 3: Trust

Day 4: Soap

Day 5: Enabler

Day 6: Order

Day 7: Sinner

Bonus: Sweet

* * *

**2016:**

Day 1: Snookie

Day 2: Snow Fall

Day 3: Cosplay

Day 4: Criminal

Day 5: Watch

Day 6: Symphony

Day 7: Banal

* * *

**2017:**

Day 1: Poison

Day 2: Ducks

Day 3: Squeamish

Day 4: Miss

Day 5: Depend

Day 6: Itch

Day 7: Lycoris

* * *

**2018:**

Day 1: Princess

Day 2: Computer

Day 3: Possession

Day 4: Role

Day 5: Throne

Day 6: Evolution

Day 7: Distort

Bonus: Grown-up


	2. Pontificate

**Quick Note: After Tartaros, but Lahar did not die.**

* * *

 "I still can't believe I agreed to do this with you," Lahar sighed out as he and Doranbolt walked down the wintry streets of Magnolia.

"Come on, we've been friends for years. This is what friends do for each other," Doranbolt grunted out nervously.

"You are taking me on a double date with THAT Monster. Do you know how much damage she caused in Shirotsume just last week? Also, if we walk into that restaurant and I see that drunk with her, then I am leaving," Lahar stated sternly.

Doranbolt sighed heavily because he knew that there was no way in hell that Erza would have even asked Cana to join them…well he hoped not. He asked for someone sweet and preferably well read. Then he made a quick joke to lighten the mood, "Chill out man. If Cana is the girl Erza paired you up with, then consider yourself lucky. You'll get an easy lay!"

Lahar was disgusted when he retorted, "I have no interest in an easy lay nor in sitting through the evening with a rambunctious pair of females from the most destructive guild in all of Fiore—actually probably Earthland.

Doranbolt rolled his eyes and added, "Either way, get your pontificating out now before we get into the restaurant and you better not ruin my chances with Erza."

"May I ask what you see in that barbaric woman?" Lahar asked honestly.

"She's not barbaric," Doranbolt snapped at him as they got closer to the little Italian restaurant that Erza had picked, "Besides you wouldn't understand."

"Inform me," Lahar stated in a monotone voice. He didn't want to have anything to do with this evening; however, going home and reading wasn't a good enough reason for Doranbolt at letting him stay home.

"A few weeks ago when you sent me to Fairy Tail to speak with Master Makarov about how Natsu accidently burnt down an orphanage, while they were in the midst of trying to rebuild it, I bumped into Erza. However, she didn't notice me at first and she was standing outside of a bakery. Most people are rather intimidated by her; however, I got a good look at her and I had never seen anyone look so damn beautiful as they stared at a strawberry cupcake. The way her eyes lit up, the way a slight blush covered her cheeks…I found her to be absolutely breathtaking," Doranbolt admitted with a sigh.

Lahar had immediately stopped walking and looked at his friend. Doranbolt gave him a quizzical look as to why Lahar had stopped walking then the Captain said flatly, "You are an imbecile."

"Yeah and you are a tight ass that I didn't even want to tell because I knew you would think it was dumb!" Doranbolt said a little too loudly.

Lahar didn't like the idea of doing a double date with his friend with the most obnoxious guild in Fiore; however, he did care for Doranbolt and wanted him to be happy. So Lahar cleared his throat and said, "Very well, let us get this over with."

The two gentleman walked into the dimly lit restaurant. Even though Doranbolt had convinced him that they should not wear their normal official attire, the men were still almost immediately recognized by the hostess and a few of the other guests. After all, the two men had to be in Magnolia quite a bit on official business thanks to Fairy Tail.

The hostess smiled at them and asked, "Are these for the reservations under Scarlett/Gryder?"

Lahar looked confused when Doranbolt let out a low groan like was in pain before he braced himself up against the hostess's stand. Lahar and the hostess looked at each other and she smiled at him nervously before she pointed to Doranbolt and asked, "Is he all right?"

Lahar sighed and replied, "I'm sure he is fine and yes that is the proper reservation."

The woman smiled and stated, "Please follow me then, your ladies are already waiting for you with menus…and if you don't mind me being honest with you—they look quite enchanting tonight."

Lahar did not change his blank facial expression, because frankly he didn't care if it was Mira herself with Erza. He was vehemently against dating anyone from Fairy Tail.

Then he looked over at his pained friend that was now covered in a thin veil of sweat and whispered, "Are you all right? What on Earthland is the matter with you?"

Doranbolt let out a low groan and replied, "I can't believe she made the reservation under both of our names. Do you think she is already thinking about marriage and could she want that? I'd marry her tonight if she wanted to."

Lahar didn't even know how to respond to his friend's idiocy. He knew that after the Tartaros Events that Doranbolt, or Mest as his "guild mates" called him, was quite confused about his place in the world. However, with most of the Magic Council gone, Lahar needed the man he had come to known as a friend now more than ever as they rebuilt their society. Doranbolt had the choice to rejoin Fairy Tail completely; however, he chose to face the consequences with his memories back and stay and help him while remaining an honorary member of the guild. Hearing him talk about marriage and being confused over a woman was so unlike him. He normally just slept around like every other person in Fiore; however, now Doranbolt was genuinely…flustered.

Lahar had been so deep in thought that he didn't even realize that they had already reached the table when the hostess said, "Please enjoy."

He quickly came around when he saw the Mighty Titania eyeing him suspiciously from across the table. Even though he and Doranbolt were still standing, the woman was oddly intimidating in her chair across from them and then he looked over to see the blonde Celestial Mage, Lucy, smiling nervously at the two of them. Both women were decked out, a little too revealing for Lahar's taste, but none the less they dressed the part for a proper date. Erza was donned in a very tight dark blue dress with spaghetti straps. Her hair was long and down but gathered up and parted off to more on one side. However, Lahar was certain that if the woman took too deep a breath, then she would explode from the dress.

The blonde next to her looked fidgety, as well she should be, she was on the most delinquent team in all of Fiore. However, Lahar never seemed to remember Lucy specifically creating any unnecessary damage—it was usually her team. However, she looked a little more refined than the barbaric woman next to her. Lahar could see that she was wearing an elegant satin black cocktail dress that seemed to flare out from her chair a little. Her hair was neatly done in a side-bun that appeared to be held together by a small elegant pin and she had in lustrous pearl earrings that accentuated her face nicely. Her make-up was light and had just the right shade of lip gloss on her lips to seem enticing while not appearing whorish.

Finally Doranbolt stated excitedly, "Erza! Y-You look wonderful!" Then the love-sick buffoon went out to shake her hand awkwardly and ended up knocking over a glass of water in the process.

Lahar's eyes widened at how fast Erza's reflexes were when she dodged the water because not a drop hit her as it ran off to the side. The two women were now standing and the wait staff quickly came up and said, "Oh dear, we will get that cleared up right away!"

"I am so sorry!" Doranbolt quickly stated towards Erza.

The strongest female in Fairy Tail then smiled at him and stated, "It's really no problem. It was just water—and you look very nice too, Mest."

Lahar looked annoyed as Doranbolt rubbed the back of his head nervously and began to laugh. However, it wasn't long before the wait staff gave them a new table all together because of the amount of water everywhere. Once they were all reseated, at a round table for four, Lahar quickly picked up on how he was put directly in-between Lucy and Doranbolt. He supposed this was normal since it was supposed to be a double date; however, he had no desire to speak to the woman next to him because he was here against his will.

After they all got seated and were given new menus, Doranbolt spoke up and said, "Lucy, it is good to see you."

Lahar noticed how the blonde smiled widely and replied, "Thank you, Mest, you too."

Then when Erza and Doranbolt turned to each other to say something, that Lahar could not hear, the blonde next to him whispered, "So it looks like you were dragged into this?"

He took a glance at her from over his menu and just replied, "Yes."

She smiled politely at him before she added, "Well at least they brought us to a good place to eat. Have you been here before?"

"No," Lahar stated.

He noticed how she shuffled in her seat nervously before she returned to her menu. He figured that she was just talking to him to be nice; however, he was not in the mood for small chat because he didn't even want to be here.

Lahar then noticed that Erza grabbed the wine list and asked the blonde, "Lucy, which wine did you say paired well with a Spaghetti Cabonara?"

Lucy smiled at her friend and replied, "Most people like doing a Pinot Grigio; however, I like a Gavi de Gavi more because it is a little smoother."

"What about if I get meatballs?" Erza asked.

"There you can get really exploratory," Lucy replied excitedly, "A good go to would be the Cabernet Sauvignon, I really like that one, or even a Merlot, Pinot Noir, or a Sangiovese. However, since you like sweeter things, then I would go with a Zinfandel."

Lahar watched as Doranbolt chuckled when he asked Lucy, "Lucy, are you a wine coinsure?"

The woman blushed slightly and replied, "I just know a lot about wines because of my upbringing. I was always being dragged to some high society ball where the newest wine, or the oldest, was being opened and everyone had to do a tasting. However, I am no wine snob. It is the choice of drink for classy people who want to get drunk."

Then Erza started with a laugh, "Lucy has a sign in her new home above her stove that says, 'Wine Tasting Daily.'

Lucy and Doranbolt both laughed at Erza's honesty when Lucy added, "Well that may happen...daily."

Lahar was not amused by the conversation as the other three laughed and chatted together as though this were normal. He forgot that Fairy Tail was not only full of borderline criminals, they also abused alcohol on an entirely different level. He never got intoxicated. He hated not being in control. It is why he limited himself to one glass a night; however, he might need two tonight just to make it through this torturous date. He just could not believe that the man he had known for years was actually a member of this abhorrent guild. Normally the council wouldn't let a Rune Knight be both a guild member and a Knight, but with the events and all the lives lost—they needed the extra bodies. Even Eve Tearm came back to assist them for a brief period.

As everyone chatted pleasantly with each other, he took a deep breath and thought about how he wanted no part of this night and wanted it to be over as soon as possible.

* * *

After the couples had finished their meal, to which Lahar was thankful he had at least a delicious meal, Doranbolt and Erza agreed to get some dessert. He chose to dine upon Osso buco alla Milanese and he was surprised that a little place in Magnolia would have such a wonderful and robust restaurant. He was not surprised by Doranbolt's choice in getting a pizza, because he was practically a man-child. Erza ordered the spaghetti and meatballs; however, he noticed that she barely touched it. Lucy, on the other hand, somewhat surprised him when she got linguine with clam sauce. The dish still contained the clam shells and she removed them with the elegance of a high society woman. He remembered from the Phantom Lord incident that she was the cause of it and she came from the formerly wealthy Heartfilia estate. He would have thought that years with a barbarous guild would have taken her toll, but he noticed how her laughter and smile seemed to draw attention from everywhere in the restaurant. He didn't know what to think of her.

He had just finished his second glass of wine and he dared not drink more, but he didn't know how much more of this torture he could take as everyone began stating their dessert dishes to the waiter.

A few moments Later, Erza excused herself to the ladies room and it was just them with Lucy. Once the scarlet haired mage was out of sight, Lucy looked at Doranbolt with a smile and stated, "Mest…"

Lahar hated hearing Fairy Tail members calling him Mest. His name was Doranbolt. He didn't belong to them. Then Lucy continued with a laugh, "If you want the date to continue going well, don't ask to share Erza's strawberry cheesecake."

Doranbolt blinked in surprise and stated excitedly, "Oh…ok! Why? Do you really think it is going well?"

Lucy giggled, "Well, Erza loves strawberries more than anything, so remember that. She doesn't eat a lot of real food and usually just sticks to sweets."

Doranbolt nodded his head in understanding as though he were soaking in as much information as he could before the blonde continued, "And yes, I think it is going very well and I am so glad."

"Why are earth would you give this man tips to seduce your friend?" Lahar asked bluntly. He felt like she was betraying her friend by going behind her back.

The blonde looked taken aback by his sudden direct question towards her and her cheeks flushed before she stated, "Because she is one of my best friends and I want to see her happy. Plus Mest is a good guy and he'd be lucky to have someone as good as Erza."

"On the contrary," Lahar argued, "She would be lucky to have someone as honorable as him. You and your guild don't deserve someone as good as him. You all are a bunch of barbaric miscreants."

"Lahar," Doranbolt growled at him, "In case you forgot, I am still one of them too. Even though I work for the Council."

However, Lahar ignored his friend and instead kept his glare on the Celestial Mage before him. Her fierce chocolate eyes never left his and he noticed that her demeanor quickly changed. Her posture became stiff and more refined instead of the relaxed posture she had moments ago. He saw her eyes flicker away briefly, no doubt gaging Erza's return, before she stated in a tone that sent chills down his spine, "Captain Lahar, I understand that our guild has a reputation for being a little over zealous at times. However, we have saved Fiore more times than the Magic Council has—especially within the past ten years. And yes, I am even counting when we were trapped on Tenroujima."

Lahar saw Doranbolt gulp at Lucy's boldness before she finished with, "However, despite your opinion of us, I believe that the only one acting like a barbaric miscreant tonight is you. Now, if you are done pontificating, it would be nice if Mest and Erza could enjoy the rest of this wonderful evening—unless you are incapable of showing some restraint?"

Stunned. That was all he could be as he sat there and watched how Lucy reverted back when Erza showed back up. The other three's desserts were soon brought out and Lahar wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. Lucy ignored him entirely and Doranbolt was back to wooing Erza and the red haired woman seemed to smile each time he spoke to her.

Was he wrong? Surely not. This guild…they have caused him so much paperwork and strife. The fire breathing idiot left so many people homeless and without jobs until stores and businesses could be rebuilt. However, what Lucy had said was true. They had saved Fiore on multiple occasions, but at what cost? He supposed she would respond with thousands of innocent lives saved. In addition to that, many people sought out Fairy Tail for help instead of the Magic Council or Rune Knights. It just made him angry. He firmly believed that the Dragon Attack wouldn't have happened if Fairy Tail had not returned, but something in the back of his mind whispered that it would have and none of them would have lived. His mind…it was torn.

* * *

After desserts, the waiter brought them two tickets. Doranbolt quickly snatched his up and insisted on paying for Erza. However, Lucy quickly turned to the waiter and asked, "I'm sorry, could you please break ours apart?"

The waiter bowed and replied, "Of course, madam."

Lahar could sense Doranbolt glaring at him; however, Lucy remained calm and cheery towards Erza and Doranbolt. Lahar was not going to argue at the dinner table over who was paying. He had no intention in paying for anyone in Fairy Tail anyways.

* * *

After they were done paying, the two women stood and their coats were brought to them by the wait staff, and Doranbolt jumped up so fast that he knocked his chair back. Lahar heard Lucy giggle lightly and Erza just smiled at the man warmly when he asked, "Could I escort you home?"

Erza nodded and replied, "I would enjoy that very much; however, tonight I was going to stay over at Lucy's. She has a wonderful new home and I haven't had the chance to stay there yet."

Lucy smiled at them and added, "I have no problem with Mest walking you to my house."

Erza and Doranbolt both smiled at each other and he reached out his arm for her, to which she gladly accepted. Lahar looked over and saw how delighted Lucy was before she glided past him—completely ignoring his presence.

The snow had started falling heavily again as the couple walked in front of them. He had no idea that they had been in the restaurant for over four hours and that they were actually the last ones to leave. He supposed that his friend was really enjoying himself and he had been in far too deep of thought to really notice. He could hear the two whispering to each other and often a laugh here or there. However, his walking companion remained absolutely quiet. The only sound he heard from her was her shoes in the snow.

There was something gnawing away at his mind and he felt like he should say something. However, before he got the chance to, the blonde spoke up, "Captain Lahar, I was actually looking forward to this night all week."

He blinked at her in surprise; however, she made no eye contact with him when she continued, "Erza really needed this date. You have no idea what we went through during Tartaros and thanks to us, you still have magic…so remember that before the next time you judge us."

Before he could respond back to her, he heard Doranbolt ask, "Is this it?"

"Yes, it is," Erza replied, "Doesn't Lucy have a wonderful home?"

Lahar hadn't given it much thought on how they were now no longer in Magnolia and instead standing outside of a quaint little cottage that was strung up with white Christmas lights. He could see that in the springtime, there would be an excellent little garden and in the windows he could see a fire place with a Christmas tree near it and several bookshelves. This didn't seem like the home of a hooligan.

Lucy gave him a quick bow before she said, "Good evening, Captain Lahar." Then she turned to Erza and Doranbolt and stated, "Stay up as long as you want or even come inside if you wish."

Lahar felt a pang in his chest at how warm she was to the other two; however, Doranbolt looked at him before he turned to Lucy and Erza and stated, "Thank you for the offer; however, we have to get up pretty early tomorrow."

Erza smiled at him faintly before she stated, "Thank you, I had a wonderful time."

He could see Lucy smiling mischievously before she started to head towards the door and Doranbolt stammered out, "O-oh y-yeah, me t-too. Um…do you think we can do this again sometime?"

"I'd like that a lot," Erza replied with a faint blush.

Lahar was still amazed that the woman could blush at all.

"OK!" Doranbolt awkwardly yelled before he quickly kissed Erza on the cheek, making the mage blush harder and Lucy's mouth fall open as she opened the door. "I'll call you tomorrow!"

Then Doranbolt quickly walked past him to leave and he was just left standing there looking at the two women. He gave them a quick bow to leave, but not before he looked at Lucy one last time who was frowning at him before she went inside. The woman who gave smiles freely, seemed absolutely disgusted with him and as the snow fell down on him—he knew he had to deeply ponder his actions tonight.

* * *

After Lucy and Erza walked into Lucy's new home, the red head immediately said, "I need a piece of cake—I'm glad I brought two over before our date."

The blonde smiled as she took Erza's coat and hung it up in her foyer. She could faintly hear Erza talking excitedly in the kitchen, but she couldn't really hear what was being said. After Tartaros, Erza was broken in a lot of ways—even she was broken after losing Aquarius. However, Erza stated that she also broke it off with Jellal. Every time he touched her or looked at her, Erza said all it brought her was more pain. She wanted to be with someone who could remind her of how enjoyable life could be instead of all the darkness that was behind them. Then when Mest asked her out, she had been beyond excited. He was kind, extremely handsome after the seven years of growing up, and she thought why not.

Lucy absentmindedly walked into the kitchen where Erza was already breaking into the cake and still talking about all of the various conversations she had had with Mest. She opened her fridge to open up some wine as she thought about how originally Erza was going to ask Cana to be the double on the date, because Lucy usually wasn't into those kind of things. However, when she heard that Mest was going to bring Lahar as his plus one…Lucy had begged Cana to take her place if Erza were to ask; however, that meant she had to repay Cana back and she shuddered thinking about what that would entail.

Unfortunately, the night didn't go as she had planned. She was so excited about talking to a mature male that had his shit together. She always found him to be incredibly handsome and she thought a date with a Captain would be safe enough to venture out there. But after tonight, she felt nothing but disappointment and decided to write it off as the worst date in the history of ever.


	3. Paperclip

Lahar sat in his new office in Crocus meticulously twirling a paperclip between his calloused fingers and tapping it on his desk as he thought about the fair haired woman from last night. She was quite a mystery to him. While he had watched her at the Grand Magic Games, he just assumed that she was shallow like every other female seemed to be—only concerned with her looks. However, her decorum had impressed him last night and what in the world did she mean when she stated that she was looking forward to the date all week? Was it because of Doranbolt and Erza? Was it because of him?

After concentrating too hard on the possibilities, he had to remove his glasses and rub the crest of his nose to relieve the tension headache he was giving himself. He had to try and focus, because there was so much work to do. New council members were being selected later that day along with a new unit of troops being sworn in. He hoped for many years there would be peace because the young men and women that just signed up were barely of age. They were too young to see the things he had seen and he wanted them to grow up and live happy lives.

He finally sat the paperclip down to go warm himself up some more green tea. He wasn't quite sure about his new office in the palace; however, after many discussions with Princess Hisui—the Princess insisted for the time being, that Fiore needed to allocate and pool resources in order to stabilize the land once more. It had been so many months since Tartaros; however, the land still hurt from the destruction. Even he still hurt from it. His ribs were still trying to mend and none of the magical physicians could heal him fast enough. However, it was a pain he would remember and he would cherish every breath he had from here on out.

As he poured himself some more hot water from his small kettle that he heated with a lacrima heater in his office, he grabbed one of the green tea pouches and gently stuck it into the piping hot water. As he watched the water morph into his favorite tea, there was a slight rasp at the door.

"Come in," Lahar stated as he started to take his mug back to his desk.

The door opened gently and in popped Doranbolt. Lahar just sighed because Doranbolt's office was right next to his but for some reason, Lahar liked coming into his because he claimed it had the better view. Lahar watched in annoyance as Doranbolt went over to the lacrima heater and poured the remaining hot water into a mug and then grabbed his own pouch of hot chocolate mix with marshmallow bunnies and poured it into the water. Lahar felt his jaw clench when he saw particles of the sugary chocolate mixture sprinkle all over his spare table and of course Doranbolt didn't refill the water he had just used. The man would never grow up.

Finally Doranbolt came and sat across from him with a big goofy grin and stated, "Wasn't last night amazing! God Erza looked like an angel."

Lahar didn't say a single word as he sipped his hot tea and Doranbolt rambled about how magnificent and wonderful his date was. Like he didn't have to listen to this all night last night on the way home…However, nothing he said—or rather didn't say, seemed to phase his friend at all.

When there was finally a breath in Doranbolt's rant, Lahar tried to ask, "So did you do the first round of training with the new troops?"

Just as Doranbolt asked him, "So how was Lucy? I was so engrossed in Erza, I never asked you how your date went!"

Lahar just sat there in stunned silence. He should have known better to try and immediately ask a work related question to his colleague before Doranbolt could concentrate on what was important. His friend's turquoise eyes were beaming at him in anticipation as the man sipped his child-like hot chocolate.

Finally Lahar cleared his voice before he stated, "Fine."

Doranbolt arched his brow at him suspiciously before he asked, "Well what was she like?"

When Lahar didn't respond right away, Doranbolt sat his mug down a little too harshly on Lahar's work desk. The Captain cringed because he saw a trickle of the hot chocolate leak down the side of the mug and onto his desk and of course Doranbolt didn't bother to sit it on the coaster that he had strategically placed near Doranbolt's spot yesterday.

"Lahar," Doranbolt sighed, "I match you up with one of the sweetest, smartest, and kindest mages in all of goddamn Fiore and all you can say is fine?!"

When Lahar still didn't respond, his friend snapped, "You know your prejudice against Fairy Tail might get you killed one day!"

"Excuse me?" the Captain asked in shock.

"They, I mean we, save Fiore all the fucking time and yet you still see them, us, no better than a dark guild!" Doranbolt chastised, "And in case you haven't noticed, hasn't there been a significant decrease in their destruction anyways?!"

"Erza caused a lot of damage in Shirotsume last week," Lahar grumbled as he took another sip of tea.

"Only because she was up against not one, not two, but three S-Class Monsters that were rampaging towards the town!" Doranbolt stated with an even louder tone in defense of his, well he wasn't sure yet what she was, woman before he added, "However, no innocent people got hurt because Lucy was on the other side of the town simultaneously evacuating the people while fighting off twenty A and B Class monsters! And where were the Rune Knights?! Oh yeah…in fucking training!"

Lahar's brows furrowed together, because he did not know that. He was no longer overseeing reading every single report that came in, all he heard was the gossip floating around about the events as Erza the Destroyer struck again. Then Doranbolt broke his concentration when he slammed his hands down on the desk and yelled, "No fucking person from Shirotsume blames Erza or Lucy! They all thanked them for saving all of their lives and the lives of their children! Homes can be rebuilt, business can be rebuilt, but human fucking lives can't! Don't you get that?!"

The Captain could see that his friend was quite passionate about this. Ever since his memories came back, he was fierier—much like the other members of Fairy Tail. Then he asked, "Where were Natsu and Gray?" After all, he wasn't totally oblivious, he did know the other members of Team Destruction.

Doranbolt let out a heavy sigh and stated, "Erza and Lucy are on a team by themselves now. You know a few weeks ago when you sent me there because Natsu burnt down the orphanage?"

When Lahar nodded, Doranbolt continued, "After that, Natsu and Gray took off together. They are gone."

"What do you mean gone?" Lahar asked in curiosity.

Doranbolt calmed down a little as he took another seat. The man let out a heavy sigh as he studied his melting marshmallows before he replied, "They left to go train. Erza and Lucy don't know where they are. There was just a note stating that they needed time to heal."

Lahar just nodded his head and the two sat in silence. The Captain realized that perhaps he had been judging Fairy Tail too harshly. Then the words Lucy had stated last night echoed in his mind…

_You have no idea what we went through during Tartaros and thanks to us, you still have magic…so remember that before the next time you judge us._

His tea was starting to get cold when Doranbolt wrapped his knuckle on the table and inquired, "So?"

"So what?" Lahar sighed because he had better things he should be doing. They had so much work to do.

"Are you going to apologize to her?" Doranbolt asked in annoyance.

"I have nothing to apologize for," Lahar stated sternly.

"Bullshit," Doranbolt rebutted.

The two were in a stare down before Lahar sighed and agreed, "Fine, I will do it for you."

"Good," Doranbolt replied with a smile as he stood up and admitted, "Because I'd like to do another double date!"

Then before Lahar could object Doranbolt used his teleportation magic and vanished. All the Captain could do was sit there in annoyance and stare at the ring of semi-dried hot chocolate on his mahogany desk.

Finally he shook his head and looked out his window to see the snow still falling heavily and decided that he probably should send Ms. Heartfilia a message after he got off work tonight. Because only the gods knew how it would take him all day to swallow his pride and apologize to a Fairy Tail mage.

* * *

Lucy felt miffed the entire morning because she kept reliving the humiliation of last night over and over again in her mind. She had never, ever, in the history of fucking ever had such a calloused date before.

She had dated several men, not tons like Cana or Mira, but after Tenroujima…she started putting herself out there a little. Dating Sting was fun for a while, the man could go for days in the bedroom. Then there was Eve, he was fun but she felt like she was going to smother his face with her breasts every time she rode him. She just felt like she was in a weird stage in life right now. The men she wanted to date either wanted to have an "open relationship" and acted like a bunch of immature dickwads, or the men were the exact opposite and were ready to put a baby in her. It made her angry and she felt like there were no normal sane guys out there. Wasn't there something out there in-between those two alternatives? Somebody who wanted to be monogamous but have all sorts of wild and crazy sex together—without have children? It wasn't that she was opposed to the idea of having children, it's just that she wasn't ready to right now. There was still so much she wanted to do and experience before she began to raise a family with someone that she loved.

Then when Erza told her that Mest asked her out on a date and how kind and chivalrous he was, it brought back some hope into her romanticized view of the world. Then when she found out Lahar was going to be Mest's plus one, she just had to try. She always admired men that were dutiful and cared about their job, plus he was hot as fucking hell in a strict professor sort of way. Plus she assumed that if Mest loved him so much, because he chose to stay and help him with all of the issues with the Magic Council and the Rune Knights, over rejoining Fairy Tail fully then he must be a pretty good guy. However, Captain Lahar made it obvious that he was not interested in her at all.

She let out a feral growl as she put a paperclip on a stack of papers because she had just finished the fifteenth chapter in her novel. She was surprised she could write at all with how annoyed she felt; however, today's chapter was a fight seen and that's what she wanted to do—fight someone or something.

When she had finished organizing her writing desk the way she wanted it, she let out a heavy sigh and looked out at the wintery scene outside of her new home. She absolutely loved it here on the edge of Magnolia. Erza had went home earlier in the day and today was one of those blissful days where she got to stay home all day and just detoxify from life. She was surprised that she had woken up so early, considering how late Erza kept her up talking about Mest. However, she didn't mind because she knew how heartbroken Erza had been over Jellal. It's always hard losing your first love. However, her friend was beyond giddy now and enjoying life once more—despite everything that had happened to her a few months ago.

As she watched the snow fall outside, she got up and walked over to her kitchen island where she had sat out a lovely bottle of semi-sweet red wine and began to pour herself another glass. Luckily she had purchased groceries yesterday, before the date, in anticipation of a day like this. She was slow cooking a delicious beef and vegetable stew in her immaculate kitchen and had already baked a pan full of brownies. As she stood there in her empty kitchen, she thought about how much had changed in just a matter of weeks. Natsu and Gray left, she and Erza were just a team and raking in the dough with their jobs, and she had a brand new home. She had purchased it for a good price, because there were so many couples flipping houses all over Fiore after all of the destruction and people trying to find new homes. Then she looked over at her keys with Aquarius's broken key next to it and knew that life would just be different now.

After she tipped back the remaining droplets of wine, she looked at the almost gone bottle and shrugged her shoulders before she murmured, "Fuck it, it's not like I'm going anywhere or talking to anyone today."

Then she poured the rest in before she went to take a dip in her elegant bath tub to watch the snow fall and read. But after she left her kitchen, she quickly ran back in and grabbed another bottle of wine, a wine bottle opener, and a big chunk of her brownies. After all, she deserved to treat herself after the shitty date she had last night.

* * *

Lucy had no idea how long she had been lounging in the bath, but she knew she had to reheat the water four times, re-add bubbles, and sneak out to grab a glass of water to help keep herself from getting absolutely hammered as she continued to drink the now strawberry wine.

She was more than content to stay there for the rest of the evening but then noticed when her lacrima pad lit up with a message. She quickly sat her book down before she dried her hand and reached for the tablet as she hummed a song that didn't really exist. But then her eyes grew wide and she almost dropped the tablet into the tub with her when she read:

**1 New Message from Captain Lahar Watanabe**

Her nerves were all over the place when she quickly opened the message to read:

_Ms. Heartfilia,_

_Please allow me to apologize for my behavior last night. I have given it much thought today and I do owe you and Fairy Tail much gratitude for the lives you have saved. However, please understand that it is my job to uphold the law and your guild likes to tiptoe in some gray areas._

_However, despite that, I wish my behavior would have been different last night and Mest speaks very highly of you._

_My Apologies,_

_Captain Lahar_

Lucy's eyes skimmed over the document one more time before she mouthed, "Gray areas? What in the actual fuck." And then Lucy did something that she had only done a few other times while drinking, and that was give into the temptation of telling someone where they could go…

_Captain Lahar:_

_I would LOVE to hear your explanation of what you mean by gray areas, because the last time I checked we just fucking saved this whole goddamn country! Don't you dare try to accuse us of anything because your best friend is a member of our guild and even if a monster suddenly attacks Crocus and tries to wipe everyone out…you know who will come and help even though you hate our guts?! US! Because we have some goddamn decency!_

_Yeah, Mest is a great guy and I'm not really sure why he didn't choose to come back to our guild when he got his memories back—instead he wanted to stay and help you! A man that despises us and the rest of the world!_

_Yours Truly,_

_Lucy Heartfilia, MEMBER OF FAIRY TAIL_

Lucy's body was shaking in pure rage and tears were already running down her cheeks. What in the absolute fuck did he mean by gray areas? She had to sacrifice one of her keys to save everyone. Maybe the fact that what he said was the truth, because all she felt was pure guilt from doing that to Aquarius and it made what he said hurt all the more as she sobbed on the edge of the tub.

A few seconds later, she saw the screen light up again with a new message from the Captain…

_Ms. Heartfilia:_

_I really truly am sorry. I apologize for my poor choice of words and had no intention of upsetting you tonight._

_Please, allow me to make this up to you in person because sometimes it is difficult to gauge another person's intentions through messages. Perhaps over some lunch tomorrow in Magnolia? I have the day off tomorrow._

_I would prefer to handle this in person._

_-Lahar_

Lucy stared at the tablet in disbelief for several minutes before she took another gulp of wine. Her mind began to wander about the man and how good he looked last night in regular clothes. She bit her lip and the wine made her giggle a pervy thought of Lahar. She smiled in delight before she sat the tablet down a little too hard and purred out seductively, "You couldn't handle me in person. My god…the things I would do to your sexy body."

Then the robotic voice of the table stated, "Voice Message Sent."

"WHATTTTT!" Lucy screamed in horror as she shot up out of the tub, reached for the tablet, and saw that it had picked up her voice and sent the message, "NO YOU STUPID PIECE OF SHIT! YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO ASK ME, 'LUCY DO YOU WANT TO SEND THIS MESSAGE?!' NOT SEND IT WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!"

Her body went numb and she knew her life was over when she saw that he had viewed, or listened to in this case, the voice message.


	4. Trust

Lahar stared at his screen in utter disbelief when he heard Lucy's voice message. He was in such shock that he hit play again, just to make sure he heard it right.

After he was certain that he indeed heard her state that he couldn't handle her, he laid on his bed and stared up at his ceiling. His soft dark blue pajama pants now felt too hot, even though he was shirtless, because his blood was coursing through his veins so intensely. Finally after a few minutes, he broke his normal rule of how much he should drink in one evening and jumped out of bed to pour himself a glass of scotch. It had been many years since a woman ignited him the way that she just did and he didn't know how to handle it or respond.

He took his tablet with him to his kitchen and he realized as he walked there how much he hated his new home. While it was done in all of the right colors; cool greys, browns, blacks, etc. and was incredibly modern, it was far too big and somewhat sterile. While he did appreciate cleanliness, the house just made him feel...alone. It wasn't anything like Ms. Heartfilia's house. Gazing into it…it just looked like a home.

As he stood at his kitchen island and poured himself a drink, he couldn't help it when he replayed her message once more...

_You couldn't handle me in person. My god...the things I would do to your sexy body._

He would be an idiot not to recognize her outward beauty. But why on earth would she say that to him? Was she really attracted to him?

After he swallowed down the strong concoction, his mind was still racing so he poured one more and hit play again. The soft giggle and moan in her voice was driving him crazy as he readjusted himself in his pants. Then he realized that neither of them had said anything for fifteen minutes. If she was as kind and sweet as Doranbolt claimed, then she was probably freaking out by his sudden silence. However, the only reason why he was silent at all was because he didn't trust himself to respond. Or more like...he didn't know how.

He swore to himself because he didn't know what to do or how to respond. He looked at his lacrima tablet, clicked the button and stated, "Call Doranbolt."

The robotic woman's voice replied, "Calling Doranbolt. Home."

It rang a few times before his friend picked up. Lahar could hear a video game in the background and Doranbolt whined, "Lahar, you just made me get eaten by a Zombie! What the hell man? Don't you know how late it is!?"

"I need your assistance," Lahar stated in a serious tone.

Doranbolt seemed to pick up on the dire tone in Lahar's voice, because the Captain could hear that the game got paused and his friend asked, "What is it, man?"

"Ms. Heartfilia accidently sent me something," Lahar admitted.

"LIKE A NUDE?!" Doranbolt asked in excitement.

"What?" Lahar asked before he sighed, "God no…more like she accidentally sent me a voice message."

He didn't have to be in the same room to know how amused Doranbolt probably was in this moment before his friend asked in a tone where he was trying not to laugh, "What did it say?"

"That's not the point," Lahar argued, because he wanted to protect her privacy.

"Guess I can't help you then," Doranbolt replied with a sigh as he turned his zombie game back on.

Lahar was annoyed because he needed answers and he needed to make this right. Finally he stated, "All right, I will tell you." He heard the game pause once more before he stated in a monotone voice, "You couldn't handle me in person. My god…the things I would do to your sexy body."

He had to push the tablet away on the counter as Doranbolt lost it on the other end. Lahar just put his head down on his cool counter-top while his friend cackled on the other line. He was right. He knew he shouldn't have asked Doranbolt for help. But then Doranbolt cleared his throat, but still kept chuckling, when he asked, "How did you respond?"

"I haven't yet," Lahar groaned as he leaned up and ran his fingers on the temples of his head.

"WHAT!?" Doranbolt shouted, "What do you mean you haven't responded? How long ago was this?"

"About twenty minutes now," Lahar admitted.

"Oh my god, we need to do some major damage control," Doranbolt coached, "Text her back something like, 'I can handle you just fine, after all—I'm the one that puts people in handcuffs for a living.'"

"WHAT?!" Lahar rebutted in shock.

"Erza said that Lucy was a writer!" Doranbolt argued, "She'll love that witty banter stuff."

"I don't think it's appropriate," Lahar replied.

"Dude, she's probably beating her head up against a wall right now in agony because you haven't responded!" Doranbolt pointed out, "How did this even start?"

Lahar took a deep breath before he admitted, "I was trying to apologize."

He could hear Doranbolt start to laugh again when his friend added, "She must like how you apologize, buddy."

"Enough," Lahar growled, "I need to respond."

"Why?" Doranbolt asked.

"Because…." Lahar tried to say, "I don't want her to think I'm bothered by it."

"But you are," Doranbolt teased, "Hot and bothered that is."

Lahar made a guttural sound with his throat that made Doranbolt laugh even harder. Finally his friend said, "Ok. Ok. How do you want to respond?"

"I don't know," Lahar admitted.

"So talking dirty back is out of the question?" Doranbolt asked.

"Yes," Lahar stated.

"Why?" Doranbolt inquired.

"Because it's not proper," Lahar argued.

"What's not proper about it?" Doranbolt asked in confusion, "People do it all the time."

"Yes, but she…she is different," Lahar admitted.

"Because she sat your ass straight at the dinner table? Because she is not just some dumb blonde? Because she is a brave, beautiful, and an intelligent woman?" Doranbolt asked and Lahar knew that the man probably had a smug look on his face.

"Those are some reasons," Lahar whispered out.

Then he could hear his friend sigh out, "You two are going to be hopeless to try and get together."

Lahar didn't know how to respond to that, because he genuinely did want to see her again to apologize in person. But now…now he was a little nervous to see her.

Finally Doranbolt added, "Just challenge her back."

"What do you mean?" Lahar asked in confusion.

"She said you couldn't handle her," Doranbolt reminded him, "Just say, 'Maybe not, but I'd love to try.'"

"I can't reply like that!" Lahar argued before he asked, "Would you say something like that to Erza?"

"Erza and I actually just got done talking on the phone, but she'd kill me if I told you what we talked about," Doranbolt stated sheepishly before he stated in his love-sick voice, "I'll never break her trust like that. God I'm going to have so many babies with that woman one day."

The Captain shook his head at his crazy friend before he sighed out, "Well I have a feeling Ms. Heartfilia will be the same way—on the trust thing."

"Your secret is safe with me, because you went on my double date," Doranbolt replied honestly before his friend got a brilliant idea and added, "OHH! Or ask her what kinds of things she would do to you! If she's a writer, she's probably thought of some damn good stuff! Just put it back on her."

Lahar grimaced at his friend's advice. While on one hand, he would love to know, but on the other—he wanted to treat her like a lady. He did not know the circumstances for why she sent that message. He quickly re-scanned their conversation before he began to type out another message. He could hear Doranbolt chuckle in amusement before he clicked the Send button.

"What did you say?!" Doranbolt asked in anticipation.

Lahar looked down at the tablet and saw that Lucy had instantly read it and was typing back a message before Lahar admitted, "I replied 'Lunch at Noon tomorrow at the little French café in Magnolia?'"

"WHAT? You didn't even acknowledge her smut message?!" Doranbolt asked in confusion.

"No," Lahar replied bluntly.

He heard his friend let out a heavy sigh and muttered something about him being hopeless before he finally asked, "Did she respond?"

"Yes she did," Lahar answered because it just popped up, "She said, 'Ok.'"

"My god, that is going to be one awkward lunch," Doranbolt chuckled, "But if you are going to Magnolia, then I want to go so I can go see Erza."

"Fine, but I want to speak with Ms. Heartfilia alone," Lahar replied in annoyance because Doranbolt was such a child. Granted a child that he just asked for advice from.

"Yea I'll bet you do, Buddy," Doranbolt teased him.

"Goodnight, Doranbolt," Lahar stated briskly.

"Night, Buddy!" Doranbolt laughed back before they ended the connection.

After Lahar poured himself a glass of water and grabbed his tablet so that he could go back and lay down. He couldn't help but wonder what Lucy was thinking. He sat everything down on the nightstand next to his bed before he removed his glasses and got under the covers.

He felt restless as he grabbed the lacrima screen and hit play on her message once more. Then with the sound of her voice in his head, he turned off his lamp and let a beautiful blonde fill his dreams.

* * *

Lucy laid on her bedroom floor stark naked and face down as she groaned, "Oh my god, it's been fifteen minutes…He hates me…he must fucking hate me."

Then she shot up and whispered out, "Or maybe he is coming to arrest me right now…"

Then she wailed and flopped back down on her floor and cried, "I hate technology!"

Then she heard her stupid tablet from the bathroom state, "I'm sorry, I didn't understand you."

"Stupid bitch," Lucy grumbled at the piece of lacrima technology before she finally decided that she better put some on pajamas. Or maybe she should just throw everything into a suitcase and run away. Somewhere far away where Captain Sexy Ass couldn't find her.

To say that she was moping about was an understatement as she kicked her damp towel across the room. She stood there and frowned while she brushed her teeth. What the hell had she been thinking? Oh yeah, that's right…she wasn't. Wine did that to her…just made her say the actual shit she that was floating around in her head.

After she rinsed her mouth out and put her toothbrush back, her heart stopped when she heard she received another message. Her body acted on instinct as she snatched up her lacrima tablet and opened up the message from Captain Lahar…

_Lunch at Noon tomorrow at the little French café in Magnolia?_

Then without thinking, she just typed back 'Ok' and ended the conversation. Then she turned off the evil device and sat it away from her so that she was safe.

As she stood there naked and stunned by what had just happened, all she could whisper out was, "He completely ignored it…What the fuck does that mean?!"

* * *

The next morning, Lucy was separating the soup that she had made the night before into different bags so that she could freeze them and use them throughout the winter. Everyone was already pre-planning for this winter because it was supposed to be one of the harshest that this area had seen in a long time. However, Lucy wasn't really thinking about the winter all that much even though she was watching the snow fall outside—instead she was thinking about how in an hour and a half she was going to be face to face with Captain Lahar—completely sober.

She groaned as she put the last drop of soup into a bag and whined, "How am I going to explain what I did?"

She let out a heavy sigh, because she had no idea what was going to happen or how to even prepare for this lunch. Thousands of different scenarios popped into her mind, but in every single one of them—she just sat there in stunned silence while Lahar berated her for behaving in typical Fairy Tail fashion—like a buffoon.

After she finished putting all the bags, except for one, in the freezer, she banged her head against her refrigerator and groaned, "I'm such a moron." Then she let out another heavy sigh and traipsed upstairs so that she could get ready for the most awkward lunch date in her life.

* * *

Lucy knew that she was walking painfully slow towards the little French Café called Arbre Café. She could see herself in the reflection of all the shop windows and her face gave it away that something was wrong. She had did her best to get ready, in fact she thought she looked adorable in the outfit that she had picked out because if he was going to tell her off, at least she was going to look classy AF so that people would think he was a jerk. She had decided on a cute, short black skater skirt with dark gray tights and thigh high black suede boots that had a magical charm on them to repel the snow. Her top was a cute charcoal gray sweater that she matched with a silver long key shaped necklace. Finally she finished the ensemble with a gray knit stocking hat to keep her ears warm and a black flared button-up coat. But no matter how adorable she looked, her insides were still turning with anxiety.

* * *

It was 11:59 a.m. exactly when she got to the front door of the Café before she took a deep breath and walked inside. She gulped when she saw a male host smiling at her, as though he already knew how dirty her mind was, when he asked, "Do you have a reservation?"

"Umm, maybe?" Lucy replied nervously, "I'm meeting someone here."

"Their name?" he asked while still holding the same smile.

"C-Cap…Lahar Wantanabe," Lucy whispered out.

Then before the host could reply, Lucy heard her name being called out…but not by Lahar. Instead her eyes widened in fear and she immediately almost dashed for it when she looked up over to see Mira, Cana, and Lisanna smiling and waving at her.

All she could do was wave back robotically at her friends when she finally heard the host say, "Yes, Mr. Wantanabe is already here. Please follow me."

She knew she should run the other way as fast as she could; however, her legs were going against her will and instead were following the host towards where Captain Lahar sat waiting for her. Then when she got to the table where her friends where, Cana said way too loudly for a chic café, "LuLu girl, what are you doing here looking fine as hell?"

Incoherent words escaped from her now dry mouth, then Mira's eyes shone like she had just won every game in all of Fiore when the She Demon asked, "Lucy, are you on a date?"

"A-a-ahh…I…." was all Lucy could whisper out.

Then Cana got a smirk on her face and asked, "Wait, wasn't your double date the other night with Erza, Mest, and Captain Sexy Pants?"

Lisanna felt bad for Lucy, but Mira clenched a glass so hard in excitement that she shattered the damn thing all of the table when Mira whispered, "Are you seeing Captain Lahar again? Have you guys done it yet?!"

Then Lucy saw that she needed to continue to follow the host as she moved like a robot and continued walking because she didn't like being late. She could hear Mira squealing in excitement, Cana cat calling, and Lisanna trying to calm both women down.

She was in a trance and then she was fairly certain her heart had stopped when she looked past the host and saw Captain Lahar sitting in the far corner with his back to the window with a bouquet of white roses with a silver tinge to them. She gulped because if those were for her, then she was pretty certain that Mira would clear everyone out of the café just so she could get a front row seat of the action.

"May I take your coat?" the host asked and snapped her out of her trance.

Lucy just nodded absentmindedly and let the host help her out of her coat and hat as Lahar looked up at her with eyes of…well she couldn't recognize because she barely knew the man. However, he looked absolutely scrumptious in his attire. While she loved a man in uniform, this man knew how to dress out of uniform as well. He was wearing long dark navy slacks with wing tipped dark brown shoes. However, what made her heart flutter the most was the long light gray sweater with a white collared shirt poking out from underneath it. He looked like something out of a magazine.

The host had just walked away when the Captain stood up and stated in a soft tone, "Please have a seat, Ms. Heartfilia."

She couldn't even nod her head as she slid into the seat across from him. She wanted to pinch herself, but she was just frozen. All that was there was his purple eyes behind his sexy glasses studying her.

She tried to swallow when a waiter came up and asked what she would like to drink. She barely choked out the words, "Water," when she saw that Lahar was sipping on hot tea and water.

For one of the first times in her life, she felt like she didn't know what to do with her body as she sat across from one of the most intimidating men she had ever met. Well now he seemed more intimidating because she sent him such a dirty message last night. God she just wanted him to say something—put her out of her fucking misery!

After the waiter had brought her water, he said how he'd give them a few minutes to decide. Once the man walked away, Lahar looked at her with his piercing purple eyes before he stated, "I want to apologize for how I treated you on our double date."

When Lucy remained silent, because she still didn't trust her voice, he continued in a sincere voice, "It was wrong of me to attack Fairy Tail or to judge you in the manner that I did. You were absolutely right and I was the one out of line that night."

Then for the first time since meeting Captain Lahar, Lucy's heart began to melt a little towards him the emotions behind the man's voice. He didn't seem like the type to open himself up to apologize often and she knew how hard it must be on him to apologize to her—especially given her team's history with destroying…well everything.

Before she could say anything else, Lahar touched the roses and added, "I would very much like the chance to take you out again sometime and get to know the real Lucy Heartfilia."

She wasn't a hundred percent sure, but she thought she heard a woman do a high pitch scream somewhere in the restaurant before she finally found the nerve to respond and stated, "I'd like that too, but…I don't want to feel like my every move or decision is being judged. I love Fairy Tail, they are my family and I've already lost my real family and even some of my magical family…"

Lahar wasn't sure what she meant when Lucy tried to fight back some of her emotions when she added, "I don't want to have to choose between everyone. Nobody is without their flaws and we aren't criminals. But in all honestly…all I truly want is to be happy."

What she had said rang true to his heart. He had been so blind, and probably still was in some ways, and he knew he was not perfect and after his near death experience, he should really know better than to judge someone else. Plus he knew his best friend enough to know how he was not a criminal and would not belong to a criminal organization. Fairy Tail was just—well Fairy Tail. Then he looked at her and replied, "I think I can live with that."

"Good," Lucy sighed out in relief.

Lahar smiled at her and then added, "Please allow my apology to continue by treating you to lunch today and these roses."

"You don't have to do that," Lucy tried to object.

"I insist," Lahar stated firmly, "The other night was quite a lavish meal and I was an abhorrent date that made you pay for your own. Please forgive me, Ms. Heartfilia but in some ways I am a little old fashioned and believe that the man should pay for dates."

"Ok," Lucy replied nervously before she added, "But I have one objection."

"What would that be?" Lahar asked her seriously.

"Could you call me, just Lucy?" she asked with a smile.

Lahar felt his heart flutter and his pulse intensify when he nodded and asked, "As long as you just call me Lahar."

Her smirk at him made his toes curl in delight when she asked, "So it's ok to just call you Lahar if you ever put me in handcuffs?"

Both of their eyes widened because of how that sounded before she laughed nervously and corrected herself, "I-I mean like if you are arresting me…"

She watched as he struggled to swallow before he huskily replied, "I think we would both have bigger things to worry about then."

A few moments later, after they had both placed their lunch order, Lucy tried to steady her breath. She had made the mistake at glancing over at Mira, Cana, and Lisanna. The youngest Strauss sibling mouthed  _'I'm sooooo sorry.'_  However, Mira and Cana were practically drooling and scheming over the situation to the point where they made two other tables changes places so that they could get closer to try and hear what was going on.

Then in a haste she turned back to Lahar who was studying her before he cleared his throat and stated in a husky voice, "Lucy…"

"Yes!" the blonde replied a little too loudly.

He looked at her seriously behind his glasses before he stated, "I think we should talk about the voice message from last night."

Gods kill her now.


	5. Soap

Her face was beyond red at the moment and before she could beg him not to talk about it here in this restaurant, because of Vulture One and Vulture Two lurking nearby, he continued, "I don't know if you meant to send it to me or not—or if it was an accident. Either way, please do not take offense for the fact that I did not respond. Again I'm a little old fashioned and if you didn't mean to send it then I didn't want to cause you unnecessary strife. If you did mean to send it—then that is something else we can discuss."

She nearly spilt her water all over the table because his voice had dropped low and husky at his last statement and she couldn't breathe. Then she felt fear strike into her very soul when she heard Cana whisper loudly, "MY GOD, WHAT THE HELL DID LULU SEND HIM?!"

She knew she was visibly shaking from embarrassment; however, Lahar finally heard the commotion and looked over at the table full of Fairy Tail women. Cana and Mira both gave him beaming smiles and Lisanna looked no better than Lucy with her face in her hands, completely embarrassed by her older sister's, and more or less her adopted older sister's, actions.

Captain Lahar looked back at her before she watched him move his fingers in a pattern that reminded her of when Freed used his magic. She looked at him and took a deep breath before he smiled faintly at her and said, "I apologize, I did not think your guild would be so interested in our conversation when I saw them in here earlier. I should have known though, because Doranbolt said that Fairy Tail was quite protective of you."

She smiled faintly back at him before she just replied with, "Yes, they are."

He nodded his head and added, "You can speak freely now because I have put up runes so that they cannot hear. Nobody can hear our conversation, unless an employee of this business approaches us. You are safe to discuss anything you wish."

What the hell was she supposed to say? Sorry, I was completely drunk and first you pissed me off and then turned me on all at the same time?! No…she couldn't lead with that.

Instead she took another swig of her ice cold water before she cleared her throat and asked nervously, "W-what exactly do you want to know?"

For a moment she thought she saw a flash of playfulness in his eyes before he asked, "Did you mean to send that message to me?"

She shook her head no meekly and thought she detected a hint of sadness in his eyes. He nodded his head in understanding. She didn't know what to say. It was an accident, but that didn't mean it wasn't true… God the awkwardness of this was killing her.

However, she finally gathered some nerve and did speak up, "I do apologize for some of the harsh things I said last night. I had no right rip into you the way I did when you were trying to apologize. Especially since I would agree with you on how my guild gets pretty carried away when we are trying to save the day."

He nodded his head in understanding and replied, "I appreciate that. Both of us could have acted differently."

After several moments of awkward silence, something finally clicked in her mind, the other night on the double date she was excited and while she knew he had a powerful position, she didn't see him as being better than her. Now she was doing what she always did, started feeling self-conscious and acting like nobody would want her. It was her self-loathing cycle kicking into high gear. People like Mira and Cana never made her feel like she wasn't good enough and that's why they always tried to throw so many men at her, because those men would be lucky to have her. Then she looked at Captain Lahar, because he could be lucky to have her.

As she thought about it more, this conversation could be like a game, not in the sense where she would purposely play with his emotions like a narcissistic person—but the kind where she wanted to gauge his intelligence, his mind, and to see if he was an equal partner and ready for her challenge. Similar to when Sherlock Holmes first met Dr. Watson, she wanted to see what he was made of.

It was like something clicked inside of her and she gave him a dazzling smile when she asked him, "Earlier you said if I did mean to send it, then that was something we could…discuss. What did you mean by that?"

She watched his body language look taken a back for a moment as his pupils dilated slightly then almost got a hungry look before he replied, "Well had I genuinely known that you were interested, like if we had been seeing each other and I knew that is what you liked, then I would have responded quite differently to that message."

She got a cat-like grin on her face because that was a very good response. Then she crossed her legs and asked, "Is that something you would be interested in?"

She knew her question had two meanings behind it and she wanted to see which way his mind would go. He looked fascinated at her before he answered in a deep and seductive voice, "Dirty talk with you? Absolutely."

She smiled at his response before he caught her off guard by also adding in the second folded answer, "You doing pleasurable things to my body—I would be more than happy with that too. However, I would quite disagree with the fact that I wouldn't be able to handle you. In fact, I think the opposite would be quite true."

Her cheeks were beginning to turn red again and she had to squeeze her legs together to alleviate the pressure she was experiencing. It took everything in her not to bite her hand at his sexy challenge. Gods this man was starting to hit all of her little checkboxes into what she was looking for; smart, sexy, witty, and not afraid to have a playful conversation with innuendos rampant. She was rather enjoying herself. Plus she liked the idea that nobody could hear them. If they continued to date it might be a fun little game to see how turned on she could get him in a public place before he lost control and took her somewhere.

* * *

Finally their food arrived and after the waiter sat down her Bourride with Lemon Aioli and his Coq au vin, Lucy looked at her dish and smiled. Gods did she love trying different foods and having new experiences that were in her level of comfort. Lahar did not fail to notice how her eyes lit up in excitement about the food. Lucy was a woman who enjoyed good experiences and witty conversations. She was truly starting to astound him in so many ways.

After they both began to dig into their dishes, she decided to change topics and asked, "So, if you were so adamantly against Fairy Tail, why did you agree to go on a double date with Mest?"

She watched intensely the way he separated the chicken from the bone with such precision before he replied honestly, "Doranbolt has been my friend for many years, he is the closest thing to family I have ever really experienced and I knew how much the date meant to him."

She smiled at him warmly before she added, "He's a good guy. I know Wendy looks up to him like an older brother. Plus Erza couldn't stop raving about him the other night and how sweet he was to her."

Lahar smiled and nodded his head in agreement before the edge of his mouth curled up and he stated, "The other night you mentioned how you were looking forward to the date all week. Was there any particular reason for that?"

She couldn't hide her amused smile, because once again they were right back at discussing things that were on the sexier side of the conversation. She elegantly repositioned herself in her chair before she admitted playfully, "I was very excited to go on a date with a mature man that knows what he wants." Then just like she had seen in so many movies, she took a seductive bite of her food and took a little longer to release her utensil from her perfectly colored lips.

She let out a smirk when his eyes darted towards her mouth and he cleared his throat and stated, "Well now I feel even more foolish and apologize for not treating you like the lady you deserve to be treated as."

"It happens," Lucy replied with a smile, "My guild has caused you a lot of anxiety and I truly get that. Our own Master tells us quite frequently how many trees get killed every year because of all the paperwork he has to fill out—and those are the ones that have been saved from us destroying them in the first place."

Lahar couldn't help but laugh at Lucy's own honesty about her guild before she added, "Everyone deserves the chance to show you their true colors though. Just like the first time I met you, I was scared shitless of you."

He blinked in surprise before she continued, "It was after we had just gone through the Oración Seis incident and I thought you were going to arrest us all for stopping it." While Jellal and his new guild were finally cleared after the Tartaros Incident, thanks to Princess Hisui, Lucy could now see some things on what Lahar meant by a Gray Area.

"I remember that day," Lahar stated in a soft voice, "I suppose we both have changed much since then."

Lucy smiled at him and nodded her head in agreement. So many things have changed throughout the years and now here she was, sitting with a man and was hoping for the first time that he was what she was looking for in a real partner.

* * *

She had no idea that the two had sat there for three hours eating and talking about anything that popped into their heads; films, books, art, music, poetry—anything that peaked their interest really.

Finally she looked over and saw that her guild mates were finally gone. Lahar noticed her gaze and stated, "I believe they left about an hour ago."

Neither of them couldn't help but laugh before Lucy admitted, "I'm glad you wanted to meet again. This was a lot of fun."

"Indeed it was," Lahar stated with a slight glint of happiness in his eyes, "And unfortunately it has to end soon. Doranbolt and I were supposed to meet back at the station at 4 p.m."

"That's too bad," Lucy replied with a playful smile before she added, "I didn't know Mest was joining you today."

"Yes, I might have let it slip that I was travelling here to see you and he really wanted to see Erza again," Lahar admitted.

Lucy smiled and added, "Yes, Erza has already convinced me to travel to Crocus with her the day after tomorrow so that she could see Mest."

"Really?" Lahar asked in surprise.

"Yes, we have a day mission tomorrow. However, Mest invited us to a Winter Festival that is happening," Lucy replied, "He said he has to work until 6 p.m., but we are going to go up early because we love Crocus and they have the most amazing little shops. I can't wait to go to this one I found on-line. It's an organic soap shop that has all of these unique soaps."

Lahar had enjoyed this afternoon quite immensely and he loved watching Lucy talk about stuff that made her excited—and in this case it was an organic soap shop. But either way, she had a lighthearted side to her that made him feel like he was home.

Then after he finalized the payment for their superb lunch, he looked at her and stated, "Perhaps I could meet up with you at the Festival. I hear it is going to be quite spectacular and Sabertooth is putting a lot of effort into it."

He wasn't quite sure what facial expression her face changed to when he mentioned the other guild; however, she quickly fixed it and smiled warmly at him before she replied, "I would love for you to be my date that evening."

He couldn't help but grin before he nodded his head and added, "Yes, I think we need a redo on the double date. However, after that…I would very much like for us to plan our first official date together—just the two of us."

She couldn't hide her excitement when she nodded and replied in a sultry voice, "I would love that even more."

She saw him take a steadying breath as his eyes shone at her in excitement before he said in a husky tone, "Believe me Lucy, I intend to treat you like the goddess you are, should you want to continue seeing me."

Goddamn…she was going to have to go home and change her panties after that line. She wasn't even sure how to respond, and wasn't entirely sure she even wanted to. However, she noticed the time and said, "I guess we will see each other soon then."

* * *

After they had parted ways, with warm smiles, Lahar couldn't help but keep it plastered on his face as he walked towards the train station. He was going to make it exactly right on time and he was lucky that his friend was a teleportation mage, because the man could rarely show up on time otherwise. He was also thankful that the royal family found the need to put a new track down towards Magnolia, especially if he was now going to be visiting here frequently.

However, much to his surprise, he looked up and saw Doranbolt sitting on one of the benches at the station with a gigantic grin on his face. When Lahar approached him, his friend turned to look at him and stated, "Well, well, well…look who only showed up thirty seconds early."

Lahar rolled his eyes before he responded with, "And look who actually showed up on time."

Doranbolt just grinned and replied, "I'm lucky I got here when I did…Erza is—she's enchanting."

Lahar smiled at his friend's happiness before he nodded his head because he thought the same thing about the woman he had just been with.

After Doranbolt handed them their tickets, he asked, "So how did things with Lucy go?"

"Very well," Lahar admitted as they boarded the train.

"Like well in the sense that she made good on that message?" Doranbolt teased.

"Well in the sense that she is very delightful to speak to," Lahar replied with sincerity.

"Hot damn, buddy!" Doranbolt joked, "That's you basically saying you want to marry her!"

Lahar just shook his head at his friend's antics. While he was not so naïve enough to start day dreaming about marriage; however, he was very content with the fact that he might have finally found a woman who was everything he had ever been looking for.

* * *

As Lucy walked home in the snow, humming one of her favorite songs, she couldn't help but have a huge smile plastered on her face. Then she internally squealed in delight because Captain Lahar was so sexy and intelligent. Gods she couldn't wait to see him again; however, her heart sank a little when he mentioned Sabertooth. While Lucy loved most of the members, especially Yukino and Orga, her and Sting didn't leave things on the best terms. He wanted to keep fucking without any of the commitment. He wasn't a bad guy, he was just too immature for her needs. She just hoped that they didn't run into him.

Once her house came into sight, she picked up her pace so that she could get in from the cold; however, shock hit her when a bunch of runes flew up around her. She looked around and was ready to fight as she grabbed her keys just as she saw Freed Justine step out from behind a tree with a defeated look on his face.

Lucy gave him a questioning looked and relaxed before she asked in annoyance, "Freed, what the hell!?"

The Rune Mage looked down at the ground in shame and admitted, "I'm sorry Miss Lucy, but they have something on me."

"They?" Lucy asked in confusion, then her eyes widened in realization and annoyance when Cana and Mira stepped out from behind the trees with satisfactory smiles plastered all over their faces.

"Thanks, Freed!" Cana smirked before she slapped the man's ass.

Then Lucy turned towards Mira who was rubbing her hands together excitedly before the Take-Over Mage gave her a sickly sweet grin and stated, "Luuuucy, I want to know all about your date."

Then Cana barked out a laugh and said, "And I want to know about this message you sent Captain Sexy Ass."

Lucy knew she wasn't getting out of this one easily when she banged her head against the rune wall and grumbled, "Gods help me…"


	6. Enabler

"Sooooo, Lucy," Mira beamed at her, "I saw those roses. They are quite lovely and expensive!"

Lucy rolled her eyes at the Take-Over Mage. The roses that Captain Lahar had given her were indeed quite lovely and she couldn't wait to put them on her writing desk. Then she sighed and looked at Cana and asked, "Seriously woman, blackmail poor Freed? You knew I'd talk when I was ready to."

Cana shrugged and replied with a grin, "You know how excited Mira gets about these things. I have no problem letting you out of the runes."

Lucy turned to Freed and asked, "Freed, please let me out? Besides, what do they even have on you? Can I help you with it?"

The Rune Mage was standing there with a defeated look, but remained silent, as Mira slipped her arm through one of his. Freed looked…distraught. Cana was grinning and just enjoying the commotion; however, Mira was determined to unleash all hell on earth if she didn't get her way.

When Freed remained silent, Lucy looked at Mira and stated, "I could get out of these Runes very easy—all I have to do is summon out Gemini."

Freed looked relieved; however, Mira frowned at her and pouted, "Lucy, you are no fun."

After a few moments of a stare off between Lucy and Mira, Mira nodded for Freed to release the runes; however, Lucy noticed that he still didn't look relieved. That bothered her. Ever since Tartaros, Lucy felt more sensitive about certain things and she noticed that she spoke up more. This was one of those times she couldn't let things go. Events were just too different now and there didn't need to be extra drama that was unnecessary.

Before Freed walked away, Lucy stopped him and asked, "What do they have on you?"

"Miss Lucy," Freed whispered, "I can't…"

She felt horrible for him before Cana cackled out, "He can't betray his fearless leader, Laxus!"

She gently grabbed his arm and looked at the two women and asked, "Why would you guys blackmail him? That's not ok."

"It's all in good fun, Lucy," Mira beamed at her, "Laxus will look yummy no matter what hair color he has."

Lucy arched her brow in confusion as Cana doubled over in laughter. However, Freed readjusted his coat just as Cana cracked up, "Yeah, from a bottle!"

Lucy looked at Freed who looked mortified at what Cana had said. The man quickly looked around just as Mira smiled at Lucy and added, "The other day, Cana and I saw Freed buying blonde hair dye."

"And there is only one blonde we know with that hair color," Cana winked, "Well…one that Freed would be buying hair dye for."

"I thought I was being careful," Freed whispered in sadness, "Laxus was too afraid to go, he found a gray hair."

Lucy face palmed herself as she looked around at the two troublesome women and the overly devoted man. Then she sighed and looked at Freed and stated, "Freed, if Laxus wants it to remain quiet…tell him I can have Cancer help him out. His hair dyes last for a really long time then you don't have to worry about running into other people."

The man looked at her with such relief in his eyes before he asked, "Are you certain Miss Lucy?!"

She nodded her head in exasperation and said, "I can keep it a secret." Then she turned to the other two women and stated in a threatening tone, "And they will too and they won't use this as blackmail ever gain—because I have much worse things on the both of them."

Cana's laughter immediately died and Mira narrowed her eyes and sighed, "Lucy, you are so serious now. We were just having some fun."

"Like I said, if I wanted to talk about my lunch date then I would. You didn't need to drag Freed into it to satisfy your need for knowing every little bit of gossip," Lucy debated with the woman. She loved Mira to death, but sometimes the woman just overstepped her bounds. Fairy Tail needed to grow up. They were all adults and needed to start acting like it or the next time disaster struck—it could end up worse.

Cana got what her friend was insinuating, the brunette knew that Lucy wasn't the same after Tartaros. However, she didn't know exactly what had happened to her, just that something did. She knew she could get a little carried away at times and she loved being Mira's enabler for mischief. But looking at Lucy, one of her best friends, right now made her feel like she crossed a line.

The Card Mage looked at Freed and stated, "Lucy's right, you have my word that I won't say anything. I know how much Laxus trusts you and I don't want to be the cause of him losing that."

Freed nodded in thanks before Mira pouted, "I'll be quiet too, Freed."

The Rune Mage nodded his head before he looked at Lucy and mouthed, "Thank you."

After the man had left, Lucy looked at the two women and she was just exhausted. Her nerves were a little on edge because she really didn't want to run into Sting the day after tomorrow; however, she couldn't wait to see Lahar again. She just felt so incredibly empty as of late, but today's lunch…made her feel alive.

Cana could tell that Lucy was done, so she looked at Mira and said, "Hey, let's get back to the guild. You promised Macao and Wakaba that you'd make them some baileys with coffee."

"But what about the date?" Mira whined as she stomped her foot.

"You heard my girl," Cana defended her friend, "She'll tell us when she's ready."

Mira frowned, but didn't argue with Cana as they began to take off in the snow. Lucy shot Cana a thankful glance as Mira headed back towards the guild.

As Cana walked by, the brunette stated, "You owe me girl, because it could have been me on that lunch date with Captain Sexy Pants."

Lucy couldn't help but chuckle as she sighed, "I know, I know…I just don't want to make a big deal out of it when I don't know what it is."

Cana just nodded and replied, "A man that wants to apologize face to face is someone to keep in mind."

"How did you know?" Lucy asked in shock.

Cana shrugged before she continued walking, "Mest's got a big damn mouth."

Lucy didn't even want to know what the hell Mest had said. Instead she just waved goodbye to her friends and entered her house.

After she shut the door, she leaned her head back against the wood and let out heavy sigh. She loved her new home; it was quiet, peaceful, and warm. Then she looked down at the roses Lahar had given her and felt her heart come alive. But she was scared. She was scared to get attached to someone—especially someone that could break her heart.

* * *

**Two Days Later…**

Lahar looked at the clock and he couldn't believe how slow the day was going. He and Doranbolt had to stay until 6 p.m. and then they were supposed to meet Lucy and Erza at Crocus's famous sweet shop before the big parade.

It was already 5:45 and he couldn't help but fidget his leg under his desk because he just wanted to go right now. After he had gotten back to his home, the night of his and Lucy's lunch date, he had a message from her thanking him for the wonderful afternoon and a picture of where she had put her flowers. Of course, being who he was, he studied the photo closely and noticed all of the things around it—like the magnificent desk she had placed the flowers on right next to a snowy window. They had continued to message back and forth that evening and every time he saw his lacrima pad light up, he couldn't help but grin like an idiot. She was an enabler—in the sense that she made him feel things he had not felt before and he wanted more and to try more with her. She was someone he looked forward to having a conversation with, someone to daydream about, and hopefully soon—someone to date.

After his mind began playing out different scenarios of the first date that he wanted to treat her on, Doranbolt popped into his office so fast with his magic and yelled, "IT'S 6! LET'S GO!"

Then before Lahar could object to all of his papers being on the floor, Doranbolt grabbed him by his arm and teleported them out of work.

* * *

Lucy and Erza were enjoying some warm drinks while they waited for Mest and Lahar to show up. The girls had taken it fairly easy today because their mission turned out to be a lot harder yesterday than they both had originally planned. It was supposed to be a simple cargo escort mission; however, the bandits that were trying to rob the cargo were a lot tougher than anticipated. Apparently, after Tartaros, there were some people who had found some demon DNA and had performed some spells to give them demon-like strength. She nearly had a panic attack at one point, because of the flashbacks it was causing her, when she saw that one of the mage-demon hybrid's had fire magic. However, they got through it just fine.

"Lucy," Erza state softly, "Are you ok?"

The blonde looked at her friend before she gave her a faint smile and nodded her head, "Yeah, sorry. Just zoned out again."

Erza nodded her head before she whispered, "If we need to go home, we can."

Lucy shook her head violently no, before she stated, "No way! I know how much you like Mest. Besides, the distraction will help and I had a really nice time with Lahar at lunch the other day."

As she took a sip of her hot chocolate, Erza smiled faintly and nodded. The scarlet haired mage was the only person to know what had happened to Aquarius because on one of their first missions by themselves, without Natsu and Gray, Lucy had woken up screaming out Aquarius's name. She loved the woman like a sister next to her and was so thankful that she was there that night because all she could do was cry and Erza just held her. Not long after that, Lucy did the same for Erza after she called it off with Jellal. Apparently when she and Jellal tried to make love, Erza began to panic and all she felt was danger. She felt horrible for her friend. They were both a little damaged and just trying to find some happiness.

Then Erza looked at her and stated honestly, "Thank you, I really like Mest. He makes me feel…safe and warm."

Lucy smiled at her friend before she agreed, "He's a really nice guy."

Erza nodded in agreement and added, "I can really see a future with him." Then she blushed and admitted, "That sounds completely crazy since we just started dating."

"It doesn't sound crazy at all," Lucy laughed, "The man is clearly head over heels for you,"

Erza's blush remained as she nibbled on her strawberry stroopwafle. Then Lucy added, "I think we both need tonight and we both deserve these two men treating us like the princesses that we are."

Erza smiled in agreement and together the two women clinked their cups together and enjoyed some of the best sweets Crocus had to offer.

* * *

As the two finished off their sweets and hot drinks, Lucy couldn't help but smile when she heard the bell of the door open behind her and then saw Erza's eyes light up with excitement. The men were clearly here. Then she giggled when she heard Mest's voice state, "Erza! Y-you look lovely."

Lucy let the couple be as she turned in her chair to see the handsome captain staring at her intently. She suddenly became very aware of her outfit. She had opted on a short red skirt that flared slightly with see-through black tights and black ankle booties. Her black top was tight, but cashmere soft, and tucked into her skirt. She knew how good she looked, especially her legs when she crossed them and greeted the Captain, "Hello, Lahar."

The man looked as impressive as ever with dark slacks and shoes and a long charcoal gray wool coat. He had a simple dark blue scarf wrapped around his neck that Lucy was just itching to grab and pull him into a hello kiss. However, she refrained.

His voice was low and it made her thighs clench when he replied, "Good evening, Lucy. You look quite enchanting."

She smiled as she stood up to grab her coat and her shopping bag. She could tell that Erza and Mest were still deep in greeting each other as Mest began to whisper things into Erza's ear. As she put her coat on, she noticed that Lahar's eyes went to the little bag. She smiled at him and stated, "It's the soap I bought, want to smell?"

He looked intrigued before he replied, "I'd be delighted."

Lahar felt his heart flutter when Lucy gave him a mischievous grin and pulled the large chunk of soap out of her bag and held it towards his nose. He was not expecting such a sweet smell, but it reminded him of cotton candy, strawberries, and cake.

She smirked at his obviously confused face and asked, "Can you guess what it is?"

He could see the challenge in her eyes and it excited him. He took another sniff before he asked, "Is it a cake flavor?"

"Nope!" she grinned at him with a slight giggle.

"I am unsure then," Lahar admitted with a smile at her playfulness.

"Unicorn Farts," Lucy laughed as she dropped the bar of soap back in the bag.

Lahar blinked at the childish sounding soap, but couldn't help but chuckle at how excited it seemed to make her. Then she showed him the other ones that she bought that seemed more adult, like eucalyptus and mint; lavender and honey; etc. She wasn't joking the other day when she said she loved soap.

Then before they could say anything else, Mest came up behind them and asked in excitement, "So what do you guys want to do? Something together? Separate then meet up at the parade?"

Lucy and Lahar looked at each other, because Mest had wrapped his arm around Erza and pulled her tightly against him. They were a new couple and wanted to cherish every minute they had together alone.

Lahar cleared his throat and stated, "I don't mind if we all meet back up."

"Agreed," Lucy stated cheerily, because she was actually looking forward to some time alone with the Captain.

Erza smiled at her and nodded her head before she asked, "Do you guys want to meet back here about fifteen minutes before the parade?"

"Sure," Lucy replied, "What time does it start again?"

"Eight!" Mest replied as he grabbed Erza's hand and said, "See you guys soon!"

Then they suddenly disappeared.

Lucy couldn't help but laugh, but then her laughter died when she saw Lahar's purple eyes studying her intently. His gaze made her squirm a little before she asked shyly, "So what would you like to do?"

She noticed that he grinned at her question before he held his arm out for her and stated, "This is a double date tonight, sort of, and you are in my city—I am at your whims, Lucy."

She beamed back at him in delight and accepted his strong arm and asked, "Hisui told me about a lovely winery in Crocus. Do you know of which one?"

Lahar nodded and stated, "I believe I do and it is actually not far from here. I have heard that they have excellent wine and source grapes from all over Fiore."

"Ohhhh," Lucy shivered in excitement, "I want to do that."

He smiled at her excitement and replied, "Your wish is my command."

Then together they exited the sweet shop and out of extinct, when the cold air hit her, she clutched onto him harder. Lahar noticed how she moved closer and the gentleman in him immediately came out when he asked, "Would you like some runes to fight the cold off?"

He knew he was in trouble when her chocolate eyes looked up at him and she giggled, "But then you wouldn't get to be this close to me."

He leaned down and whispered in her ear seductively, "I will stay as close as you want me too."

Something in him almost snapped when he saw her bite her bottom lip and shiver from the sound of his voice. He knew without a doubt that tonight was going to be a lot of fun, and probably pretty painful in some ways.

* * *

Lahar was already enjoying Lucy's company. He loved watching her; the way her eyes lit up outside of toy stores, or the way she marveled at the fancy clothes in the boutique; and even the way she smirked as they walked by a lingerie store that had several revealing Santa-like lingerie for women. His inner dominant side wanted to buy her anything and everything that made her eyes light up in excitement. She appeared to be both innocent and a complete succubus. She intrigued him in a way that no other woman had ever managed to do.

Once they reached the winery, he couldn't help but smile at how excited Lucy was. He could feel her clutching his arm even tighter as she marveled at the sleek store. He looked down at her and asked, "Are you ready?"

She nodded her head in excitement as they entered the winery together. He was surprised that there were not more people in here, but figured it was because of the winter festivities that were happening all over the town. However, he did not mind at all because it meant that he got to spend more intimate time with his date.

Lucy smiled eagerly as she led them towards the bar to have a seat, just as a man with a twirled up mustache came out from a back room. "Greetings!" the man boomed at them, "My name is Saito and welcome to my winery."

"Hello," Lucy replied warmly and Lahar gave the man a nod.

Saito looked at them and asked, "Can I take your coats? Is this your first visit here?"

"Yes to both," Lahar replied as he removed his coat and then helped Lucy out of hers. He wanted to kiss her neck when he saw how she flushed at his gentleman like actions.

After Saito took their coats and hung them up, Lahar took a seat next to Lucy and gently brushed his leg up against hers. Her eyes locked onto his and he watched as her body turned towards him so that their legs could remain touching. He smiled softly as Saito laid out the wine list for them and vaguely heard the man explaining how the business came to be. However, Lahar was more interested in the fact that Lucy seemed to understand the art of build-up and how conversations or some physical gestures were just another form of foreplay for the intelligent and he was already thoroughly enjoying it.

When Saito finished his owner speech, he asked them both, "So what kind of wines do you enjoy?"

"Anything," Lucy replied quickly.

Lahar and Saito both chuckled before Lahar admitted, "I prefer a full bodied red myself."

When Saito nodded his head and quickly stepped out of hearing distance to retrieve some wine for them to sample, Lahar felt like his heart stopped when Lucy teased in a straight voice, "Really? I thought you seemed more interested in the full bodied blonde myself."

Lahar sucked in his breath when Lucy gave him a playful wink. He chuckled at her wit and replied, "I'm actually already completely intoxicated with the goddess next to me."

"Hmmmm," Lucy hummed in amusement, "She must be a lucky girl."

He grinned before he added, "On the contrary, I am the lucky one. Lucky enough that she gave me a second chance and is now letting me escort her around and treat her to anything her heart desires."

He watched in amusement as she squirmed in excitement just as Saito returned and stated, "We will start you out with this nice red that is made from some grapes in southern Fiore."

Lahar never had trouble focusing before—on anything. However, he could barely register what the man was saying when he felt Lucy playfully slide her foot up the back of his calf muscle as they tasted the very dry red. He was going to enjoy this evening very much.

* * *

After nearly ten different tastes, Lucy had convinced Lahar that they should get a bottle and enjoy it before the parade. He had no objections at all, because Lucy was a hilarious buzzed person. Her wit came out ten time stronger, along with her charm. In fact, Saito was already so smitten with her that he was in the back fixing them an hour derves tray with various meats, cheese, fruits, and veggies. He also placed them in a lovely part of the restaurant, which was actually on the balcony, where they could view the snow falling before the big event soon. However, the balcony had a protective shield around it so that they didn't have to worry about the cold or listen to the bustle of Crocus preparing for the parade.

Lahar and Lucy both just smiled every time the man told them what a lovely couple that they were and Lahar knew that he was under some sort of spell as he reached his arm back behind the loveseat that they both set on and pulled the blonde closer to him. She was an enchantress and every word she spoke to him just allowed him to fall deeper under her spell.

Finally she looked up at him and said, "Thank you."

"For what?" he asked huskily.

"For this," Lucy replied as she motioned around with her hands, "I've already had so much fun."

"We've only been to one winery," Lahar couldn't help but chuckle.

He could feel that he was starting to feel inebriated and when she looked at him with flushed cheeks and admitted, "True, but you have been a complete gentleman and have already treated me so well."

Lahar paused because he could tell something in Lucy had changed, besides her whispered tone. However, their faces were already getting closer together before he looked at her with a serious expression and replied, "Lucy, I will never treat you with anything but respect and I should be thanking you too."

She tilted her head so innocently and asked, "How so?"

Together they took another sip of wine before he admitted, "Sometimes I am too serious for my own good, but tonight…tonight has been delightful. I can't wait for our next date and I already know that after that one, I will just want more and more."

She smiled at him and their bodies were even closer together than before. She was killing him every time she bit her lip. He was thankful that they still had over thirty minutes before they had to meet back up with Doranbolt and Erza, because he never wanted this moment to end. He could feel her womanly form pressing deeper into him and all he wanted to do was cover every inch of her body with his lips and hands and watch how she reacted when he talked so dirty to her while he made love to her.

"Lahar," Lucy whispered out in a breathy tone.

"Yes, Lucy?" he asked in a deep voice and began to pull her closer.

However, before she could answer him, the two heard from behind them, "I thought I smelled you."

Lucy's eyes widened, because she immediately recognized the voice and turned around to see a confused Sting Eucliffe standing in the doorway.


	7. Order

"Sting," Lahar barely heard Lucy whisper.

The Captain noticed how the blonde man behind them had his eyes transfixed on his date. Then he could feel Lucy start to shake from nerves before she asked, "What are you doing here?"

The young Sabertooth Master's eyes darted briefly to Lahar for a split second before he stated roughly, "I could ask you the same thing."

The Captain did not know how much Lucy wanted him to intervene. He certainly didn't want to come across like an overprotective asshole. Instead he began to rub soothing circles on her arm to try and communicate that she was safe. Lahar wasn't an idiot and at this moment he didn't need the details of Lucy's and Sting's past; however, Lucy's obvious discomfort by the young Guild Master's presence was apparent...and it was starting to get on his nerves.

He watched as Lucy regained her voice and stated, "I'm on a date."

He felt his heart swell slightly by her declaration before Sting looked in his direction and nodded, "Captain Lahar."

Lahar looked at the man before he took a sip of wine, Lucy's body had not stopped trembling when he replied, "Guild Master Sting, doesn't Sabertooth have a parade soon?"

He could feel Lucy start to relax a little in his touch as Sting eyed his hand on Lucy. However, before anything else could be said, the large man Lahar knew as Orga came bursting through the door behind Sting and stated, "Tiny! We thought that was you!"

Lahar glanced over at Lucy whose face seemed to melt with happiness as she replied, "Hey Orga! How are you? How's Yukino?!"

"She's good. She's downstairs now with Minerva because we all decided to grab a quick drink here before we get on our floats," Orga grinned widely as he came and kneeled down right in front of his and Lucy's face.

Lahar was a little shocked by the large man's friendly affection towards his date, it was almost sibling like, as Orga and Lucy chatted casually. However, Lahar kept his guard up because Sting was doing nothing but staring daggers into him, despite his guildmates lighthearted attitude.

Finally Orga asked Lucy, "So Tiny, what brings you here?"

She blushed slightly before she admitted, "I am on a date here with Captain Lahar. Well actually a double date, but our other pair wanted some alone time."

Orga couldn't help but chuckle before the God Slayer's eyes met Lahar's and the large man stated, "Well, congratulations man. Tiny here is one of the best."

Lahar smiled at how happy Lucy looked before he replied, "I couldn't agree more, Mr. Nanagear."

The God Slayer then nodded after he ruffled Lucy's hair a bit and told her, "Well after the parade, if you guys want to come by Sabertooth, we are having a big party."

Lucy smiled slightly and said, "I'm not sure what our plans are, but we will think about it."

Orga gave her a knowing nod before he stood up and shook Lahar's hand. The Captain was shocked by sudden speed at which Orga leaned in and whispered in his ear, "If you break Tiny's heart, I will find you and I will hurt you."

Lahar did not mind that he was just threatened by one of the strongest mages in all of Fiore, instead he almost found it oddly sweet that the large brute of a man was so protective of his little friend. However, Lucy seemed a bit taken aback as she scratched her cheek nervously and whispered, "Please don't arrest him."

Lahar just chuckled a little as Orga moved away and went back to stand by his Master. Sting looked confused and slightly dejected before Orga grabbed Sting by the shoulder and stated, "Let's go, Sting. The guild is waiting."

The Captain couldn't help but notice how Sting didn't look happy by that or by any of the interactions that had just taken place. It almost seemed like he was being removed by force from the balcony.

However, Lahar soon felt Lucy's body tense up when Sting looked over his shoulder and asked, "Lucy, can we talk after the parade?"

Lahar felt his heart clench up but then Lucy nervously replied, "I-I can't."

The Captain felt relief; however, he saw Sting's disappointed face before the young Guild Master added, "I'll still try and find you."

Then before Lahar could speak up and say, 'Absolutely Not,' the young man was gone. He was annoyed by the clear disrespect for his date from the young guild master; however, his annoyance vanished when he heard the woman next to him sniffle.

He looked over at her and saw that she had quickly wiped a tear away and then smiled at him and stated, "Sorry about that."

"You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for," Lahar stated warmly.

Lucy just nodded quietly as another tear leaked down the side of her face. Lahar was annoyed, not at Lucy—but at Sting. He had ruined a wonderful moment and now, he and Lucy needed to go meet up with Doranbolt and Erza soon. However, Lahar felt extremely protective of Lucy in this moment when he asked, "May I ask a question?"

He could sense Lucy's nerves, but she nodded in agreement. He repositioned himself a little before he asked, "Sting, is he an ex?"

"Sort of," Lucy admitted quietly, "We were never official or anything."

Lahar nodded before he added, "You can tell me as much as you want, or as little. I trust who you are. However, you are clearly upset and do not appear to want to speak to him. I do not want to overstep my bounds but I do not like that the woman I am on a date with was so upset because another man ruined our moment."

He saw Lucy's big brown eyes look at him before she whispered out, "I don't want to see him or talk to him. He's a good guy deep down, but I just…I just…"

He watched as Lucy tried to fight some tears away and his heart melted at the clear pain she was in. So instead of asking more details, he simply asked, "May I hold you?"

"Please?" she pleaded just as he opened his arms and allowed her to fall into him.

As Lahar sat there holding this woman he was becoming incredibly fond of, he realized that like him—she had a past that sometimes still haunted her too.

* * *

After Lucy had calmed down a little, the two grabbed their empty bottle of wine and disposed of it before they went to meet Doranbolt and Erza. Lahar noticed that Lucy was much more somber now—and slightly distant. He didn't want to push her to talk, but he was relieved when he held out his arm for her and she smiled at him and latched on once more.

As they walked silently to the location where they were to meet their friends, he heard Lucy whisper out, "I'll understand if you don't want to go on another date."

Lahar immediately stopped walking and asked, "What do you mean?"

She couldn't look at him when she admitted, "What happened with Sting was super awkward and incredibly immature and I probably look crazy…"

He could see the pain in her eyes and the tears that were starting to well up again. He knew that she was probably a little over emotional from all of the wine and no substantial meal in her body; however, he was not giving up on her for something as silly as that. Instead he cupped her cool cheeks with his hands and he stated in a husky tone, "Lucy, I am more annoyed that our moment was ruined, but in no way am I judging you for his actions or blame you for any of that. You are not crazy and I intend to keep dating you. After the parade, I think it would be helpful if we got some dinner in you."

He saw the relieved tears leak out before he whispered protectively, "I will keep you safe tonight."

He felt her arms wrap around his waist and pulled him into the warmest hug he had had in years. It was true that he was even a little inebriated and in no way was he going to judge Lucy for being upset by what was clearly a distressing situation to her. While he didn't really need to know the details, part of him couldn't help but wonder at what the Sabertooth Master did to such a kind and witty woman.

* * *

The parade was full of lights and magic; however, Lahar barely noticed any of it with Lucy in his arms. His dominant side was clearly showing and he bought her a snack to hold her over until they could get some real food in their system. He wanted to make sure that all of her physical needs were being met, even though he couldn't take care of some of her emotional ones yet.

Doranbolt and Erza were barely watching the parade as they chatted nonstop, well Doranbolt chatted nonstop. Lahar couldn't help but smile at how childlike, yet attentive his friend was, especially when he purchased a very large strawberry cupcake for his new girlfriend. From anyone watching from the outside, the two men probably looked like love-struck fools.

Everything about the parade was going fine, Lucy even waved at Yukino and Orga as they went by. However, when Sting went by, Lahar felt Lucy grab a hold of him a little tighter and looked away. Sting seemed to be quite aware of this and then his piercing blue eyes never left Lahar for a second until the float disappeared.

* * *

After the parade was over, Erza and Lucy went into one of the public restrooms to freshen up while he and Doranbolt waited on them. His happy friend looked over at him and asked, "So, did you and Lucy have a fun time together?"

Lahar smiled briefly before he replied, "Yes, for the most part."

"Well the evening is about to get more awesome," Doranbolt grinned, "We saw Minerva and Yukino earlier and they invited us all to Sabertooth guild tonight."

Lahar's body immediately tensed and his friend had been with him long enough to pick up on the change. Doranbolt immediately went into serious mode and asked, "What's up, man?"

Lahar did not feel comfortable sharing Lucy's intimate details when he stated, "I think Lucy and I will go out to eat instead."

Doranbolt stroked his stubble before he asked quietly, "Is this about Sting?"

When Lahar didn't respond, Doranbolt nodded and stated, "You don't have anything to worry about. Lucy called it off with him a while ago."

"I am not threatened by Sting," Lahar stated with certainty.

Doranbolt arched his brow before he sighed and stated, "I only know from Fairy Tail gossip, well mostly Mira—that Lucy called it off with Sting because all he wanted was sex — he didn't want a relationship. I guess guys like that can only think about immediate gratification. He is pretty immature in a lot of ways and doesn't realize that a woman like Lucy is worth over a hundred different one night stands…"

"Doranbolt," Lahar stated as he cut in with a serious captain-like tone.

"Yes, sir?!" Doranbolt immediately went to attention.

"Do not gossip like a little school girl," Lahar commanded as he eyed the door intently in front of him, "That is an order."

"Yes, sir!" Doranbolt saluted, "Sorry, sir."

Lahar just nodded and internally sighed. If what Doranbolt said was true, then it was no wonder that Lucy reacted the way she did after Sting showed up. Even a little with how she acted at lunch the other day. It seemed to him that she was overly worried about if her actions would make someone flee and that bothered him. It made him want to cherish her all the more and tear down those insecurities that she had built up. She was too beautiful and intelligent to be torn down by people who did not appreciate who she was. She could be quite ferocious if she wanted to be; however, she possessed a sensitive and kind soul that was rare to find these days.

It wasn't long after his discussion with Doranbolt that the two women reappeared. Lucy gave him a nervous smile and he smiled back at her warmly, reassuring her that everything would be ok.

Lahar looked over and saw that Erza was whispering something in Doranbolt's ear that was making the man blush harder than he had ever seen before. He looked over at Lucy who had a knowing smile on his face then Doranbolt looked at him and cleared his throat before he stated, "Lahar, Erza and I are going to take off. I will see you at work tomorrow."

The Captain blinked in surprise and then the couple was gone. Lucy let out a faint giggle before she walked up to him with a smile still on her face. He couldn't help his actions by her gentle demeanor when he asked in a warm tone, "What would you like to do next?"

She looked around nervously and admitted, "Well I kind of need to find a place to stay since Erza is staying the night with Mest. Originally we were going to go back tonight, but I convinced her to live in the moment."

Lahar smiled knowingly before he added, "Mest needs that too. When you all were gone for seven years, he was consumed with so much guilt. Erza has been good for him. His spirits have perked up quite a bit this past week. Thanking for setting me straight the other night so that I could see that."

Lucy gave him a playful wink before she teased, "You'll just have to get used to it—I'm right a lot."

The Captain couldn't help but chuckle but then his mind went to the room situation and finding a place to stay tonight in Crocus would be nearly impossible given the large event that was lingering over the next few days. He could see her eyes had a hence of being overwhelmed in them, so he gently pulled her a little closer and whispered in her ear, "Would you like to get away from everything for a bit and have a nice, relaxed meal? Then we can discuss some accommodation for you."

She gave him such a relieved smile that he wanted to kiss her right there before she nodded her head and took his arm once more. Then she asked, "What did you have in mind?"

He waved down a covered carriage before he gave her a slight smile and stated, "It's a surprise."

As they walked towards the carriage, so that he could get his date out of the winter weather, Lucy watched as Lahar whispered something in the driver's ear before they both froze. Lucy felt like her heart had stopped when she heard Sting Eucliffe's voice from behind them yell, "Lucy, wait!"

Lahar was a very patient man in a lot of ways; however, his patience was now wearing thin after Doranbolt's little gossip fest. Plus the moment he felt Lucy tense up again was the moment that Lahar was done being nice to a man that was sniffing around on his date.

The two turned around to see Sting dashing through the crowds and Lahar stated in a low voice, "It is your decision if you wish to speak with him or not. If you want me to intervene, just squeeze my hand twice."

She looked at him with unknown eyes and nodded slightly as she turned towards Sting who was now panting in front of them. He looked at Lucy and asked, "Lucy, can we please talk?"

"Sting," Lucy said in a kind voice, "I am on a date right now. Unless someone's life is in danger, can this please wait?"

Lahar could feel the hatred for him ooze off of Sting when the Guild Master shot him a dirty look then turned back to Lucy and asked, "Are you at least coming to the Guild Party?"

"No, we are not," Lucy stated flatly, "Lahar is taking me somewhere."

"Where?" Sting asked quickly, clearly crossing a line with the blonde.

Then Lahar saw it, just like the night she told him off, something in her clicked and she got rigid and smiled before she stated bluntly, "Have a goodnight, Sting." Lucy didn't even acknowledge the rude question as she climbed into the carriage and turned to him and stated in a sweet voice, "I am ready when you are, Lahar."

Lahar took that as the conversation being over with as he began to climb in after his date. However, he felt a firm grip grab his arm. When he turned around to see Sting glaring at him, he knew he had to remain composed so that the situation did not escalate.

Then Sting asked in a growl, "Where are you taking her?"

"I command that you release me at once," Lahar stated in his Captain tone, "That is an order, Sting Eucliffe." Lahar was not going to share any details with this man who was clearly taking Lucy and her feelings for granted. He was glad that he had been trained to not act so impulsively.

The young Guild Master relinquished his grip; however, the scowl on the man's face remained apparent. Either way, Lahar was done and was seconds away from arresting the man if he insisted on getting physical—but he really didn't want to ruin his date with all of that paperwork.

Finally he climbed into the carriage with Lucy and closed the door behind him, leaving Sting out in the snow alone. The carriage immediately took off and Lahar looked over at his date. He could see that she was shaking slightly and he knew that she probably still wasn't ready to talk. Instead, he pulled her closer to reassure her and thought about how special she was becoming to him. He wanted to see witty Lucy back—along with flirty Lucy and dirty talk Lucy. That is who she truly was to him, a woman filled with confidence and security. However, he knew that no matter how wonderful he saw her, there were still people in her past life that made her feel things other than how wonderful she was and he was going to do everything he could to reverse that so that she could be happy.


	8. Sinner

Lucy was taking deep breaths and soaking in Lahar's calming scent as they rode in the carriage. He smelled of a mixture of calming sandalwood and sweet sin. Seeing Sting just threw her for a loop that she wasn't ready for. While she tried not to hold anything against the young Guild Master, her heart just couldn't help but be a little bit broken from the experience of seeing him.

She started seeing him right before Tartaros and the sex had been absolutely amazing. The things he could do with his tongue were magical; however, after she lost Aquarius she just felt…raw. She couldn't tell Sting what happened, but he knew that something had happened to her—he just didn't press her for anything because they weren't in a "real" relationship. She felt extremely vulnerable after she lost Aquarius and every time she brought up the idea of them being exclusive, he flaked out on her, wouldn't call her back, and tried to make her feel like what they were doing was fine. But to her…it wasn't fine. She had wanted to be with him because she really liked him. Finally after she saw what it was really doing to her, she ended it and he didn't seem to care either way—and that hurt her worse.

So why in the hell did he suddenly want to talk to her again? It made her feel…dirty. She wasn't raised to just sleep around—in fact it somehow made her feel like she was a sinner and going against everything with how she was raised. She was taught to save herself for the right man. Actually she was raised so that her father could marry her off to the highest bidder. However, in all honesty most people didn't do that—be married off or save themselves for that one perfect person. With Eve, it was just differences in how they communicated really and that's why they didn't work. He was too sweet and they never fought—there was just no passion. They were still really good friends and he never made her feel bad that they had slept together nor did he talk about their endeavors with the other men that begged him to give him details. It was just an unspoken thing now and they were just two friends that couldn't make it work. However, with Sting…he made her feel so undesired. Like what was wrong with her that he didn't want to be her boyfriend? She was super sweet, super hot, and they were amazing in bed together. She had heard that Yukino, and even Orga, asked him why he was holding out on just committing but he always just played it off and acted like they both wanted to just keep having awesome sex with no additional attachments.

They were just like two pieces of a puzzle that couldn't line up but were so close. He wasn't outright mean to her, it was more like he just neglected her needs and it upset her. It made her feel like she didn't matter. Seeing him again tonight just stirred up all of those insecure feelings that she had been suppressing for weeks.

Finally she turned towards Lahar who seemed to be deep in thought. She was very much appreciative of how attentive he was to her needs tonight. It was like she didn't have to even say anything and he knew what she needed. Every small touch and even with what he had to say. She had been so shocked when he said he would intervene if she needed him to. No man had ever really done that for her. Nobody had ever respected her enough to let her make her own decisions that way. Natsu and Gray were great, but they always took their overprotectiveness too far and Loke was too aggressively flirty with her—especially when he knew that there could never be anything in-between them. Lahar was a man. He knew what he wanted and he treated her like both a lady and a sexy vixen. She tried to take a steady breath, because if she wasn't careful, she could fall for this man…hard…and she wasn't sure if she was ready to open herself up again so soon—especially not after seeing Sting again and having all of those hurt feelings reopen.

She took another deep breath as she studied his calm face and smiled because she wanted to be like Erza and live in the moment. She reached over and gently touched the mid of his thigh with her hand. His piercing purple eyes were on her in an instant and it sent a shudder down her spine.

"So are you allowed to tell me where we are going yet?" she asked him with a mischievous smile.

He gave her a grin that just seemed to melt her very insides before he readjusted his glasses and replied, "It's pretty exclusive."

She tilted her head at him just as the carriage was coming to a stop. He was such a gentleman as he helped her out of the carriage and handled the fees with the driver. However, as she stepped back into the snow, she was surprised to see that they were in a quieter part of Crocus on a hill with a few dozen other homes. There were still lights strung up everywhere from the festivities, but it was much more relaxed than the main district that they had just came from.

Suddenly she felt his masculine hand gently touch her back before he added, "Welcome to my home, Lucy."

Her eyes lit up with excitement as he led her outside of a very modern looking home with sleek gray stone exterior walls and light wood as an accent around the front door area. There were so many open windows; however, she noticed that many of them were covered with curtains.

As he opened the door for her, he stated, "I hope it is ok that I decided I wanted to make you dinner. With all of the bustle in the town, I thought it'd be nice to relax here and then we can watch the firework show that begins at 10 p.m."

She turned towards him and admitted, "That sounds wonderful," just as she stepped through his foyer.

Her eyes widened at how immaculate and clean the house was. Not that she was expecting it to be dirty by any means, but it was definitely a home for a perfectionist. Everything matched, the walls were sleek yet calming, the floors were stunning, and all of the furniture and décor looked like they came straight out of a magazine. She loved all of the calming greys and blues and there was even a slight balsam wood smell that made his home seem like a retreat.

Lucy noticed that he immediately took his shoes off and sat them in a closet on a shoe rack, so she began to carefully take off her ankle booties just as he smiled and asked in a husky tone, "May I take your coat?"

She nodded as he carefully helped her remove her coat. She wanted to moan when she felt his fingers gently brush against her shoulders. His touch was both firm and gentle at the same time. Then he gently touched her back and stated, "Follow me."

All she could do was smile as he led her through his home. She couldn't help but notice a study that had several books and a clear glass desk on it with a high back leather chair behind it. She tried not to gulp about how hot it would be if he bent her over it and fucked her on it—the contrast of the cool glass against her hot skin would be amazing. She loved his living room too; it was simple but had the coolest stone fireplace she had ever seen.

As he lead her into the kitchen, she marveled at the blacks, browns, and greys along with the stainless steel appliances. He had a wonderful kitchen island with a sink and a few bar stools with backs around it. However, she noticed that he did not have a table.

Then he cleared his throat and asked, "Would you like to have a seat and let me treat you?"

She smiled and nodded her head as she carefully lifted herself up on the high bar stool as he walked over to a cabinet that contained several bottles of wine. However, she felt guilty being in his home when this wasn't really how the evening was supposed to go, so she asked, "Can I help you with anything?"

He shook his head no, but she caught the smile that even went to his eyes before he replied, "Absolutely not, you are my date on this very odd double date tonight and I intend to make the first one we had together up to you."

Lucy couldn't help but laugh when she added, "All right, I will just sit here like a good little girl."

She couldn't help but squirm in her seat a little when his breath caught and she saw him inhale quietly. She was quite pleased with herself for finding out little details about what his kinks were. Then her brows perked up a bit at the scene of him sorting through all of his wines before he stated, "I thought we could continue the fun that we were having at the winery, plus a delicious red wine pairs excellent with steak, asparagus, mushrooms, and potatoes."

"Ohhhhh," Lucy awed in satisfaction, "That sounds fantastic and fancy for a first cooked meal together!"

She noticed how Lahar seemed satisfied after he had selected the most appropriate wine before he admitted, "I have been watching you, even on our first date, and observing your likes and dislikes."

She gently rested her hands under her chin, as she leaned against the island, and asked with a flirty grin, "Oh really? So what have you observed so far, Captain Lahar?"

He let out a faint chuckle as he uncorked the wine because of her little rhyme before he revealed, "You try to hide your high society background with how warm and kind you are to everyone you meet. However, the small things are what give you away. Like how you hold your fork and knife. How small you cut your food in a fancy restaurant. And even though you are no wine snob, how you hold your glass sets you apart from the rest of the room."

She nodded her head to the side as she thought about what he said. As he began to pour them both a glass, she added in satisfactory tone, "True, but anyone who knows my past could notice those things. Those things have nothing to do with my likes or dislikes."

She watched as Lahar grinned as he began to start the meal. He preheated his oven and began to pull out the vegetables, and wash them, before he rebutted in a husky tone, "That is very true, what you like is excellent quality food, because delicious food makes life more enjoyable. Your eyes light up when something is presented to you in an appealing way and they practically have stars in them after you take that first bite."

She hummed in agreement before he continued, "You also love very girly things even though you dress like a real woman."

"What kind of girly things do I like?" she teased him because she was enjoying hearing the things he had noticed so far. He was nailing her, figuratively, and she was thoroughly enjoying it.

"Well for starters," Lahar stated, "Unicorn Fart soap."

Her laughter rang throughout his kitchen and he couldn't help but smile at the melodious sound as he began to cut the vegetables in their appropriate sizes. Then he felt like his heart had stopped when she asked, "Is there anything else you've noticed about me that you want to share?"

He looked up at her and met her warm chocolate eyes. That devious little mink grin she had as she took a sip of wine was going to be his undoing when he revealed in a dark husky tone, "You know exactly what you do to me every time you look at me like that and you make it very hard for me to be a gentleman."

He watched as her grin widened and she whispered, "Maybe I don't want you to be."

It took everything in him to stay in control of his face and his emotions at her comment. He was thankful that his manhood was hidden behind the kitchen island, otherwise his blonde companion would have seen his massive erection. Gods did he want her and he was beginning to know without a shadow of a doubt that she was made just for him and he for her.

Instead he cleared his throat, readjusted his glasses, and replied with an amused smile, "All in good time, Beautiful."

Lucy's jaw clinched in excitement at the sound of a promise that she could not wait for. She had to cross and squeeze her legs together as she took another sip of wine because even though her mind might not be entirely ready, her body sure as hell was for this man.

Finally she took a deep breath as she watched him season the vegetables with balsamic vinegar, garlic cloves, olive oil, and salt and pepper before he placed it all on a baking sheet and put it in the oven and set the timer. She did love a man who knew how to do things, it was fucking hot as hell watching a man cook. It was one of the weirdest turn-ons she had. Obviously when she was younger she had a lot of meals made for her, but once she ran away—she more or less made everything from there on out. With the obvious exception of eating at the guild. Not many of the men in her life knew how to cook. Plus she daydreamed about the hopeful days in her future where she would be able to get back from an exhausting mission and the man she loved had a bath drawn for her, a meal cooked, and then would fuck her until she fell asleep.

Now here she sat in Captain Lahar's kitchen and watched as this man who held a powerful position in Fiore make her a meal—it was fucking sexy as hell. If she were his official girlfriend…she would definitely give him a good thank you on her knees to show him how much she appreciated him. However, they were not there just yet…

She took another sip of wine before she admitted, "I've been watching you too, Captain."

"Indeed you have," the young captain replied in amusement, "You know exactly what seems to set me off."

"In good ways," Lucy grinned.

"Of course," Lahar added in a pleased tone as he pulled some steaks out of his refrigerator.

She perked up in her chair to see what kind they were and then, even with his back to her, he stated with a laugh, "It's a ribeye. If I would have known you were going to come over, I would have splurged on the porter house, because I want nothing but the best for you."

He hadn't been lying. He had observed her love of food so well that he already knew that she would be curious as to what kind of steak he was going to prepare for her. She grinned and replied, "I do love a good ribeye, so I feel very lucky."

He smiled back at her in enjoyment as she watched him season the meat and allowed it to rest before he pulled out a large iron skillet and began to put large chunks of butter in it. Being around Lahar was both calming and exciting all at the same time. She felt like she could just be herself in his presence, which was relieving, but at the same time—he just set her mind and body ablaze with passion. She hoped he was having as much fun as she was. However, she just didn't know…

Then to her surprise he stated in a husky tone, "I am."

She blinked in shock before she whispered out, "Am what?"

His eyes and facial expressions grew serious for a moment before he revealed, "Something else I have noticed about you is when your mind wanders off to darker places, the corners of your mouth go down slightly and your eyes get distant with a touch of sadness."

She could feel her heart beginning to beat sporadically before he reached out his hand to hers and added, "I can't be entirely sure as to what you were thinking just now, but I know after the earlier events of this evening you seemed quite shaken up. Just know that I am having a wonderful time and thoroughly enjoy spending this evening with you. I would also very much enjoy more evenings like this with you. I'd very much like to continue to see you, because you are a fascinating and beautiful woman that I am growing immensely fond of."

A relieved grin appeared on her face as she accepted his hand before he changed the subject and stated, "Now, the vegetables need to cook for a bit before I put the steaks on, so I thought I would give you a tour of my home and then you can decide if you'd like to stay in the guest bedroom tonight or if you would like me to find some arrangements for you elsewhere."

She let out a relieved sigh, because that was weighing on her mind. The thought of staying with Captain Lahar both excited her and made her nervous. She was not worried about him doing anything to her, because he knew who her teammate was and Erza would kill him if he tried anything that Lucy wasn't ready for. What made her nervous was the fact that she wanted to crawl into bed with him so soon, because Captain Sexy Ass was quickly becoming the man of her dreams.

* * *

After the tour, it was obvious that the Captain had not been living here long. While she was grateful that there was a spare bedroom with an actual bed and attached bathroom in it, his other rooms were quite—un-personal. He had admitted on the tour that only Doranbolt had been to his house and Lucy knew she was dealing with a man that didn't let many people get close to him. Yet there was clearly something about her that he didn't mind letting in and that made her feel special.

After she had agreed to stay the night, because she could easily have Virgo bring her some spare things that she obviously didn't have, they went back to the kitchen so that Lahar could put the steaks on. The lack of a table now really sunk into her mind. He only allowed Mest into his life and her. He wasn't like her and didn't have a group of people like Cana, Mira, Levy, and Erza all over at once to have a fun time. Mest was his family, but that made her wonder about his real family…what were they like? Were they still alive? She supposed she would find out in time and although she had had plenty of wine, she didn't want that to be an excuse and figured that Lahar would tell her about his past when he was ready—just like she would tell him about Sting once she was ready.

However, despite the fact that she had only been on three dates with this man, she was finding herself more and more attracted to him and somehow knew that no other man would ever be able to live up to her standards after dating Captain Lahar.

* * *

The party raged on in Sabertooth around Sting as he sat at the bar and ordered another vodka with lime. All of his friends were off dancing and enjoying the festivities with all of the visitors to the guild who came to have a good time. Well mostly came to get drunk and get laid.

Suddenly a short beautiful girl with massive tits, long black hair, and green eyes came and sat down next to him at the bar before she giggled and stated, "Hi Guild Master Sting, my name is Airi."

He let the vodka slide down his throat before he replied back to her harshly, "Not interested."

The girl's eyes flashed in anger before she harrumphed and then took off. The Guild Master let out a heavy sigh as a familiar shadowy figure sat down beside him and stated in amazement, "Well I think that's a first."

Sting rolled his eyes at Rogue's comment before he signaled the bar tender for another drink before he asked his best friend, "What do you want, Rogue?"

The Shadow Dragon Slayer studied him seriously for a minute before he replied, "You organized this huge event and yet you look the most miserable."

When Sting didn't reply, Rogue continued, "Orga said you ran into Lucy."

At the sound of his ex-lover's name, Sting clutched the glass he was holding tightly. She had looked so incredible—well she always looked good to him no matter what she wore. In fact he liked seeing her wearing nothing most of the time, but it had been a while since she had broken it off with him. Then smelling her again, seeing her again—it made him feel…confused. He hadn't realized how much he had actually missed her. He missed waking up next to her, he missed hearing the sounds she made while he fucked her, and he missed laughing with her.

Rogue remained silent for another moment before he added, "If you can't give her want she wants, then let her move on."

"Dude, fuck off," Sting sighed.

"Not this time," Rogue smirked, "We all love Lucy and miss seeing her around. Yukino always has to go to Fairy Tail now to see her friend."

"I know," Sting growled.

"So let Lucy be," Rouge sighed out, "If she is seeing someone else, don't interfere. Then she might get over you easier and not be afraid to come around anymore."

Sting thought about the statement before he admitted, "I don't want her to get over me. I want to be with her."

Rogue arched his brow and stated, "Sting, she's beautiful, smart, and funny—of course she is going to want more than sex."

Sting finished off his next glass of vodka before he turned to his friend and admitted, "And so do I. I want her back."


	9. Sweet

Lucy was stuffed to the max with the dinner Lahar had prepared for her. Not only did he look mighty fine cooking, but he could actually make it taste good too. However, she wasn't just enjoying the free food and wine—there was just something about being with him that calmed her soul like no other person had ever done before.

After they had finished eating, she found herself in trouble with the stern Captain when she offered to help clean up. Lahar had quickly refused that and stated once again how she was his guest and it was his responsibility to take care of her. She was prone to feeling guilt and he could somehow sense that as he took her plate so he gently stated, "Lucy, the firework show is about to start. In-between the living room and the kitchen there is a closet with several fuzzy blankets. Would you like to pick us out some so that we can watch the fireworks on the balcony?"

At the sound of him giving her a task, he noticed that her eyes lit up in excitement and she replied, "Sure!"

As she walked to the closet, she couldn't help but grin. Talking with Lahar, eating with him, making jokes with him, insinuating innuendos, and just being in his presence made her feel alive and exhilarated. However, just like she always did…she began to overthink the situation. She was afraid to get too attached to quickly. What if he hurt her like Sting did? She wasn't sure she was ready for my rejection in her life.

She had no idea how long she had stood there, when suddenly her concentration was broken, when she heard Lahar ask in a worried voice behind her, "Lucy, are you all right?"

She quickly grabbed two of the first blankets and turned to see him with concern on his face. She laughed nervously and replied, "Yeah, sorry. I just spaced out for a minute."

He studied her for a brief moment before he held his hand out to her again and stated, "Allow me to show you to the balcony. I would offer you a dessert, but unfortunately I do not carry many sweet things in the house so I cannot offer you anything."

Lucy gratefully accepted his hand before she asked in surprise, "What?! Like no dessert at all? No chocolate, no cake, no ice cream?"

He smiled slightly and shook his head no before he admitted, "I try to avoid most temptations. However, I seem to be failing tonight."

"How so?" Lucy asked in curiosity.

His amethyst eyes locked onto hers before he stated, "Well, I've had way more to drink than I ever do—plus, being around you in general is a temptation that I do not know how I will abstain from much longer."

Lahar heard the faint moan that had escaped from Lucy's lips and he wanted nothing more than to pin her against the kitchen island and take her. However, tonight was not the night that they would consummate their relationship. He wanted an official date with her first and treat her to everything she desired.

As the two made their way to the balcony, Lahar took one of the blankets and laid it over the seat of the bench that was outside. Thankfully that part of his balcony was covered, so there was no snow on it. However, there was still a slight chill in the air and Lucy was already starting to shake from the cold when he gently said, "Please have a seat and I will cover us up."

She nodded eagerly and quickly sat down just as Lahar laid the other large fuzzy blanket over her. He smiled as she nuzzled up in it before he sat down next to her under the blanket. Then he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close to him to keep her warm from the cool air.

He could feel her body tense at first before it relaxed in his embrace. He knew he had caught her earlier in what appeared to be dark thoughts again. He knew enough from Doranbolt to know that Lucy was usually the one on her team that tried to keep things calm; however, she was the one that always ended up in danger the most. Also, ever since they had seen Sting earlier…it was like Lucy's mind was wondering off more and more. He knew he wanted to wait to talk until she was ready; however, he wanted her to know for certain that she was safe with him and he would never betray her. It was slightly presumptuous of him, but something in the back of his mind just knew that she was finally the one he had been searching for his whole life. Something that he thought he would never actually get to have.

Before he spoke, the fireworks from the festival began to go off in the distance. He watched as her beautiful eyes lit up at the site of the hundreds of fireworks that began to illuminate Crocus.

Then he couldn't wait any longer when he asked, "Lucy, would you please go on our first official date together three days from now? I wish I could do it sooner, but Doranbolt and I must attend a conference over the strategic plan for the next year with the Royal family."

She turned to look at him with a smile and replied, "I would love that very much. Do I get to help with it in any way?"

He couldn't help but chuckle before he replied, "Absolutely not."

She gave him a pouty look that only amused his inner dominant nature even more before he grew serious, cleared his throat and stated, "Lucy, I don't want to push you to talk about the events that happened earlier."

He could feel her body start to tense up again, so he quickly continued, "However, I need you to understand one thing for me."

Their eyes looked at each other once more before she asked nervously, "What is it?"

Lahar began to gently stroke her back with his thumb to try and reassure her, because he could see how much another man had affected how she saw herself and that pissed him off. Very rarely did he get angered by such things, but someone as wonderful as Lucy should be nothing but worshipped.

Finally he stated in a warm tone, "Never ever compare me to someone from your past. I will treat you like you deserve—and that is to be cherished, worshiped, adored, and protected."

He could see the nervousness in her eyes when he clarified, "I don't mean protection in the way that you can't handle yourself, but in the sense that sometimes the world is a hard place and you need to know that I will always have your back. We haven't been on our first official date yet, just little odd ones here and there, but I know enough about you to know that I am not giving up on you. You are smart, beautiful, intelligent, witty as hell, sexy, and you take my breath away every time I am around you. Please know now that I will only leave if you ask it of me…"

Then before Lahar could say anything else, Lucy lunged herself at him and captivated his lips with her deliciously soft ones. Many people when they envision their first kiss with someone, think of it gentle and pure. However, this style was more to Lahar's liking as Lucy attempted to dominate him with passion.

She felt like a piece of heaven that he had longed for his entire life as his hands roamed up her curvaceous form. He could still hear the fireworks in the distance; however, none of that mattered as Lucy straddled him on the bench and pressed her hot core against him. He could feel her fingers run through his hair and it took everything in him not to set free his throbbing member as she raked her nails against his scalp. She was a sweet sin that was going to break every fiber of his self-control that he valued so much.

When they finally broke from the best kiss Lahar had ever had, he looked up into her strong eyes and gave a faint smile before he teased, "So does that sound ok to you?"

"Yes," Lucy replied breathily before he pulled her back into a deeper kiss.

* * *

**Two Days Later…**

Lucy had all been but living in a daydream ever since her stay-in double date with Captain Lahar. He had been nothing but a complete gentleman, with a touch of dominance, the whole evening. After their make-out session on his balcony, neither of them were ready for bed so they stayed up and watched an old movie together and continued their make-out fest on his couch. She couldn't even remember the name of the movie as he had her pinned down under him and showered her with his lips that should be considered a fucking sin to have.

They had stayed up until well past 3 a.m. talking about anything and everything that came to their minds until she fell asleep in his arms on her couch. Even though there was no sex whatsoever, it was undoubtedly one of the best nights she had ever had.

Later that same day, she and Erza finally made their way back to Magnolia. However, it wasn't long until after Lucy got on the train that she started to doubt everything Lahar had told her about wanting her. She hated herself and just felt so fucked up from the events of Tartaros and with what Sting did that she just always second guessed herself now. She was so mad at herself on the way home from Crocus, luckily Erza didn't notice, because when she and Lahar first went on a date with Erza and Mest—she had been so confident. But then seeing Sting just completely unraveled all of the false confidence she had built up in herself. She felt pathetic and damaged and it made her even angrier, because all she wanted to do was to be happy and find someone that loved her as much as she loved them. However, all of her fears were washed away when she got home and saw that Lahar had already sent her a lacrima message confirming the date and time of their first official date together, with just the two of them. It was like he knew she would be worried about it and immediately set her mind at ease.

As she got up from her large chaise lounge in her living room and closed the book she had been reading, she couldn't help but smile at the idea of seeing Lahar tomorrow. He really was incredible and she loved how she could show her intelligence around him and it only seemed to turn him on more. Last night they had gotten into a pretty passionate text debate on which modern Shakespeare adaptation was the best one and she absolutely loved it. She felt like she was free to be herself.

After she let herself have a big stretch and looked at her clock, she moaned, "I guess I better get stuff ready." It was a little after 3:30 p.m. her time and that evening, Cana, Mira, Lisanna, Levy, and Erza were all coming over a for a girl's night. Each girl was going to bring something over, but Lucy loved being the hostess with the mostest, so she was going out of her way to make sure that there were plenty of well-rounded snacks and treats. Cana was in charge of the booze (obviously); Mira and Lisanna were bringing brownies, fudge, ice cream, and cookies; Levy was bringing over some games and salty snacks, and Erza was bringing cake.

As she cleaned off her counters and stirred the hot chocolate she had prepping on the stove, she couldn't help but smile and let out a slight girlie squeal with how excited she was to have a girls' night in—plus feel so appreciated by a man that she was just getting to know.

* * *

It was just after 5:30 when her lacrima bell rang that her guests were here. Lucy had changed into some tight black leggings and an overly large pale teal sweatshirt with the cutest house slipper booties she had. As she carefully ran across her wooden floor in the slippers, she couldn't help but giggle as she called out, "Coming!"

When she opened the door, all five girls were eagerly standing outside with their treats and Cana held up several cases of tequila, rum, and vodka and yelled, "Let's party!"

Lucy immediately stepped aside, but not before she noticed that Cana had also brought a wagon with even more booze, and offered to help Mira and Lisanna with all of the treats that they were juggling.

After the girls made their way into her new home and began to take off all of their layers, Lisanna and Levy both marveled over Lucy's new home. The blonde was also glad that the other girls had the same idea as her and already came comfy and prepared in their attire as Levy gasped and said, "Lu, your new home is amazing! I can't believe I haven't been able to make it over until now."

"That's probably because we have all been taking missions like crazy to get new homes and rebuild our lives," Lucy laughed playfully.

Levy nodded in agreement as Lucy began to give the girls who hadn't been to her new home yet a quick tour of where everything was. However, Cana, having been there many times, immediately went to the kitchen to start the first round of mixed drinks. "What do you girls want?" the Card Mage asked, "I can make anything."

"Ohhh," Mira marveled in excitement as the girls all made their way into the kitchen, "I'd like a pomegranate martini."

"A strawberry margarita for me," Erza stated with a smile and a nod.

"Ohhh, I'd like a strawberry margarita too!" Lisanna pipped up.

Levy thought about all of the suggestions before she stated, "I'd like a Cosmo, please Cana."

"That sounds amazing, Levy! I'll have one of those too, Cana," Lucy laughed as she helped Mira unwrap all of the snacks from their plastic wrap protection.

Cana grinned at Lucy and teased, "Are you sure you don't want 'Sex with a Captain?' It's a pretty awesome drink and I make a heck of a one."

Mira squealed in amusement and Lucy's face heated up from being flustered, especially after Erza slapped her back and stated, "I think that drink would suit Lucy quite well."

Levy and Lisanna gasped before Levy stated, "That's right! The whole guild is abuzz with the time you have been spending with Captain Lahar!"

"What's he like!?" Lisanna asked, then grew nervous quickly before she corrected herself from acting like her sister too much, "I mean when he isn't trying to arrest your team…"

Lucy tried to collect her thoughts, because after all it was girls' night. However, she wasn't sure she had had enough alcohol yet to reveal the intimate details between her and Captain Sexy Ass. Instead she just replied, "He is a pretty amazing guy. He is thoughtful, sweet, mature, and very kind. Plus he is so freaking smart and fun to talk to. Like we can have real conversations about anything! I like him a lot and am looking forward to our first real official date alone tomorrow."

Mira was shaking Erza so much in excitement that the Re-quip mage nearly spilt the margarita that Cana handed her. However, it was Cana that asked the important question, "How big is he?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Lucy yelled in a flustered tone that made Cana grin even wider.

Then the brunette teased, "Ahh, I'm sure you'll find out soon enough." Then the Card Mage turned to Erza and asked, "But by now you should know how big Mest is…spill."

Erza had already began to dig into the cake she had brought when her face turned as red as her hair. She nearly dropped the cake when she began to stammer, "U-um…w-well…"

Lucy just shook her head and teased Cana, "How about you wait to get some more booze in us before you jump straight to the pervy personal questions."

Cana cracked up as she finished the notorious drink called 'Sex with a Captain' and handed it to her blonde friend and replied, "Deal, Sugar Tits."

"Cana you're so vulgar!" Lisanna wined as the small woman finished off her first drink.

Everyone blinked by how fast Lisanna sucked down the alcoholic drink and it was Levy that blurted out, "Holy Shit, Lisanna! We just got them."

Even Mira looked surprised; however, Cana just grinned before she teased, "Hmmmm, been practicing sucking on a certain Lightning Dragon Slayer?"

"WHAT!?" Mira yelled as she stood up so fast that she knocked the barstool back that she had been sitting on.

Lucy gave Cana an exasperated facial expression and before Mira could question her little sister further, not that the older Strauss sibling minded that Lisanna was into Laxus, Cana stated quickly, "All right Levy, start explaining the rules of the first game as I prep the second and third round of drinks."

Levy quickly took the hint and began explaining the rules of the card game as she pulled out several decks from the bag she brought over, just as Lisanna went to set safely on the other side of Erza. However, Lucy just shook her head as she tasted 'Sex with a Captain.' Cana had been right and the flavors of the drink melded well together, but it was really hard to go wrong with rum and schnapps. But as the other girls laughed and mingled in her kitchen, her pervy mind couldn't help but wander off towards the Captain she was falling for and hoped that he was doing well.

* * *

Lucy had no idea how many drinks she had had that evening as she laid on the floor next to Levy cackling wildly. Somehow Cana had gotten Erza so drunk that the strong woman revealed that she and Mest had done it ten times the night that they were in Crocus and that Erza had convinced the man to dip his dick in strawberry syrup so that she could lick it off of him.

Mira finally got it out of Lisanna that the youngest Strauss sibling had been secretly dating the Lightning Dragon Slayer since Tartaros, but luckily nothing about Laxus's gray hair came out in the conversation. However, the older sibling was already trying to plan the wedding by using pretzel rods as Lisanna and Laxus and who was going to be in their wedding.

The evening had been full of flustered women who were way too drunk to probably even remember half of what they were saying. As most of the girl's began to pass out throughout her living room, Lucy began to crawl her way up her stairs towards her master bedroom—all while giggling here and there at her own drunken predicament.

When she finally reached the top and crawled towards her bed and heaved herself up onto it. When she reached over for her tablet, her eyes lit up when she saw that there was a message from Captain Lahar:

_Lucy,_

_I hope you are having a wonderful evening with your friends. I am looking forward to seeing you tomorrow night._

_Also, since I have observed that you like to plan things, I think you would like to know for your clothing selection that tomorrow's date will be on the more elegant side._

_-Lahar_

Lucy began to giggle maniacally as she began to type out a message in response…the man had no idea what he was in for…However, the start of her message began...

_Captain Sexy Ass_


	10. Snookie

Why in the hell was the world spinning so bad? Lucy groaned as she tried to roll over in her bed. Everything hurt, even her eye lids hurt—how was that even possible?

“Rise and shine, Buttercup!” Cana suddenly yelled out from somewhere.

Lucy wanted to yell at her friend to shut her trap, but the moment she attempted to say something, she started to gag. Her eyes shot open and Cana was already there with a trash can, Gatorade, fried chicken and scrambled eggs, plus pain reliever. Lucy grabbed the trash thankfully, but remained still—she hated throwing up and if she could stop it, she would.

Cana gently patted her head, which only elicited a groan from the blonde. The Card Mage then gave her a wink and teased, “You light weights are too cute. You ate too many damn sweets last night and not enough cabs and protein.”

“Thanks for the late advice,” Lucy groaned as she reached her hand up to her head to rub away the pounding feeling that was happening between her eyes.

“Anytime, Sugar Tits,” Cana laughed, “Mira and Erza have already dragged Levy’s and Lisanna’s asses home because they are worse off than you and Mira didn’t want them puking everywhere.”

Cana eased the food and drink towards her before she continued, “Your downstairs is all cleaned up already. Last night was a blast.”

Lucy couldn’t help but smile a little because she did have a lot of fun with the girls before Cana stood up and added on her way out, “But Lu-Babe…you should probably check your messages from last night…”

Lucy’s eyes widened and demanded to know, “W-what do you mean?!”

Cana got a mischievous grin on her face and admitted, “I came up here to use your bathroom last night because everyone had to pee at once during the night. I came up here pretty late and you were laughing like crazy and were messaging someone like crazy—seemed pretty hot with how you were murmuring to yourself.”

“WHAT!?” Lucy yelled and then immediately regretted it because her head pulsated like a volcano that exploded in her mind.

The brunette just cracked up before she waved and finished with, “Have a good day, Lu!”

“No, no, no, no, no, no,” Lucy murmured to herself just as she heard her front door close and reached for her tablet. “Please, oh god, nooooooo,” she whined.

Dead. She knew in that brief moment of time…she had mentally died when she saw that the battery on her tablet was dead.

“Goddamnit,” she groaned as she reached further for her charger to get it going so she could see how much of a fool she made of herself.

As she sat on her bed impatiently, picking at the hangover breakfast Cana had prepared her, she tried to remember what she was doing last night. Memory flashes appeared in her mind as she inwardly cringed. Gods…she remembered Lahar.

When her tablet finally lit up, she was faster than Erza in her Flight Armor when she grabbed it, but saw three new messages. She gulped when she saw that two were from Lahar, but then a deep frown appeared on her face when she saw that one new one was from Sting Eucliffe. What the fuck did he want?

She didn’t hesitate when she opened his first, because she would rather get horrible news out of the way first. She took a deep breath and read the following message from her ex-lover:

_Sting: Hey, I was wondering if we could meet up some time to talk?_

Lucy let out a snort of disgust. He had sent the message at 1:30 a.m. She was thankful that she didn’t respond and then immediately went to open the messages from Lahar.

“Oh. My. God…” Lucy groaned in horror as she scrolled though the seemingly hundred back and forth text messages.

She quickly found her way to the first message sent and saw that she had sent:

_Lucy: Captain Sexy Ass_

_Lucy: I’d be having a more wonderful time with you here._

“Oh. My. God…” Lucy repeated herself as she read his response…

_Lahar: Captain Sexy Ass, huh?_

_Lucy: Yep! It’s what I have you saved as in my contacts now._

“WHY WOULD YOU TELL HIM THAT?!” she berated herself.

She rapidly read through the texts. He admitted to knowing she was drunk, she told him ‘so what?’, then somehow they got into a very detailed conversation about what type of homemade cookies were the best. Lucy was arguing that a cookie called Snookie was the best. However, Lahar asked her if she meant Snickerdoodle, but Lucy was convinced that they were called Snookies.

But even worse than the cookie debate were the blatant flirting signals she was doing and the sexual innuendos she kept saying. She actually fell out of the bed at one point when she read:

_Lucy: Tonight I drank ‘Sex with a Captain’; however, I’d much rather taste the real thing…_

Goddamn she was a pervy drunk—and he played it so cool. A little too cool as her sober mind read it all.

She felt like a fucking dumbass.

Finally she reached the bottom two messages that read.

_Captain Sexy Ass: I have a feeling you have finally fallen asleep. I enjoyed our conversation greatly tonight. Please do not feel terrible when you wake up in the morning, you have no idea how much you made me smile tonight._

_Captain Sexy Ass: I will come pick you up at 5 p.m. exactly at your house. I look forward to treating you to our first official date._

Lucy gulped before she looked at the clock and saw that it was only 10:30 a.m. She was thankful that he sent that last message. Somehow in the short amount of time that she and Lahar had spent together, he had already picked up on some of her insecurities. Reading those last two messages from him reassured her a little, but in all honesty…she still had some doubts. She was afraid of getting hurt again. But then she blushed when she remembered his proclamation before their first kiss…

_“I don’t mean protection in the way that you can’t handle yourself, but in the sense that sometimes the world is a hard place and you need to know that I will always have your back. We haven’t been on our first official date yet, just little odd ones here and there, but I know enough about you to know that I am not giving up on you. You are smart, beautiful, intelligent, witty as hell, sexy, and you take my breath away every time I am around you. Please know now that I will only leave if you ask it of me…”_

As she took a sip of her Gatorade, she couldn’t help it when a faint smile traced her lips because hopefully…hopefully…she finally found someone to trust in the way that she had always longed to. So in the moment, she wasn’t going to worry about how much of a fool that she had made herself last night—instead she was going to look forward to the magical night that she knew she was going to experience.

* * *

 

Lucy was a set of flustered nerves as she spent the afternoon lounging about, getting fluids in her, and slowly getting ready for her date. Tonight she opted for a tight, deep maroon dress that had lace flowers over it with a long charcoal grey cardigan that was just as long as the dress. Her accessories matched her ensemble perfectly and as she finished putting on her dark grey tights, she couldn’t help but feel genuinely beautiful and excited.

It was 4:55 p.m. when she just spritzed herself with one of her favorite perfumes and paused when her doorbell rang. She looked at herself in the mirror one more time before she gave herself a wink and started running towards the door. She was giggling like crazy before she called out, “HEY! YOU’RE HERE EARLY!” Then when Lucy swung the door open, her face immediately fell.

“Hey, Beautiful,” Sting Eucliffe stated with a weak smile as he stood on her doorstep.

Out of instincts she immediately closed the door so that it was barely open a crack. Her heart was pounding and for a few seconds, she was so upset that she couldn’t see straight. Finally in her cold sweat state, she asked, “Sting, what the hell are you doing here?”

“Can I come in,” Sting asked with pleading eyes, “So we can talk? I’ve missed you.”

“No!” Lucy stated in a slightly raised voice, “Now answer my first question.” How dare he just show up here for no reason and without her permission?!

“Lucy,” Sting whined,” I sent you a message last night.”

“Yeah, and I didn’t respond!” Lucy stated with her anger starting to show, “Now please leave. I have nothing I want to say to you.”

As she tried to shut the door completely, Sting threw his foot in the door to keep it from closing. She glared at him, because she was about two seconds away from calling Taurus out and she would blast his ass all the way back to Magnolia with one punch. Then he quickly stated, “Please, just give me a minute—I want to make it work.”

She didn’t even need to think about it when she stated, “Well I don’t! Now move your foot and leave.”

Then before anything else could be said, she watched as Sting looked furious but his mouth opened and Lahar’s voice came out, “Master Sting, is there a reason why you are not leaving the property of my date?”

Lucy’s heart began to pound and she glanced over at her clock—yep…5 p.m. on the dot. A deep scowl sat on Sting’s face before he removed his foot and faced off with a very pissed off Captain Lahar.

She couldn’t help but gulp when Sting asked Lahar, “Your what?”

Lahar stayed stern, pissed, and calm all at the same time. She wasn’t sure how to describe it. Part of his demeanor turned her on like she had never been turned on before. It was the type where she wanted him to take her up to her room, bend her over and give her a firm swat across the ass. However, the other part of it, made her as silent as she stood in that moment.

The sexy captain only looked at the young master and stated, “Master Sting, I believe my date asked you to leave and that she was not interested in working things out with you and she asked you to leave.”

Then Sting turned back towards her and asked, “Are you seriously dating this guy?”

Lucy saw Lahar’s face drop for a half a second from behind Sting before looked at Sting in his cool blue eyes and stated with pride in her voice, “Yes, I am. He makes me very happy—so please leave and do not come back without permission.”

Sting looked perplexed as he snorted up at the snow covered sky before he replied, “Fine, but you will want me back.”

If her eyes could have Lucy Kicked him, then he would already be flying back to Magnolia in that second. However, Sting had already turned away from her and as he walked by a smoldering and pissed Captain Lahar, Sting stated in a harsh tone that made Lucy want to vomit, “Not really sure what you see in her, she’s damaged goods now anyways.”

Pain. It was all Lucy could feel in her shocked nervous system as she felt involuntary tears start to well up in her eyes. She couldn’t look at Captain Lahar, because she didn’t want to see the look on his face—especially if he believed Sting, so she failed to notice when the gentleman of a man readjusted his glasses and responded to the young Guild Master, as the blonde male continued to walk away,” On the contrary, she is a rare treasure that lesser men cannot handle. Otherwise, you would not be here begging for a second chance. Instead, I am the lucky man that she is choosing to grace with her charming and beautiful presence.”

Her eyes widened in relief and shock as her eyes finally met Captain Lahar’s gentle face. However, she saw Sting whip back around and was about to run his mouth again, but Captain Lahar raised his hand and his voice dropped to a threat, “Guild Master Sting, the next time you show up here uninvited, I will not be as nice and you will find yourself in a jail cell. If Lucy ever contacts me in tears, because you continue to torment her—I will personally come to arrest you myself.”

Sting looked miffed when he shot back, “Talking to her doesn’t warrant an arrest.”

Lucy knew Sting was in for it when Lahar turned towards him and began to list off several violations of Sting’s behavior; including, harassment, failure to leave property, etc. She watched as Sting got a look of defeat on his face before he finally spat out, “Whatever,” and turned to leave once more.

Once the young Guild Master had finally disappeared, Lucy let out the breath she didn’t know she had been holding. She looked towards Captain Lahar who was still eyeing the woods where Sting had disappeared into and she couldn’t help but feel a little nervous—but also a bit relieved.

“Lahar, I’m so sorr…” Lucy began to say, but instead of her words finishing, she found the Captain’s hands on her cheeks and his lips pressed against hers.

She moaned at his familiar touch, the same touch from a few nights ago that seemed to calm her soul in a way that she had never experienced before. Then out of instinct, she grabbed the collar of his coat and drug him inside of her house, before she kicked the door closed—there lips still interlocked and hungrily devoured each other.

However, instead of her initial thought of backing him up against the door, he spun her around so that her back was against it and his masculine body was pressed up against hers. She wanted it to continue further; however, the Captain pulled away slightly and whispered in her ear, “You look absolutely breathtaking and I missed you.”

“Mmmmmmm,” she moaned in desire as his kisses trailed down her neck, “I missed you too…and thank you.”

She could feel a slight smile on his face before he pulled away and left her in a flustered state. She felt like a cat in heat, because she wanted to rip their clothes off and just stay home and play.

It was like he could sense her need before he cleared his throat and grew a little more serious before he stated, “Lucy, I think we need to talk about Sting for a minute.”

She took a deep breath before she nodded her head in agreement. While yes, she could tell that Lahar seemed to want her as much as she wanted him—they needed to talk about the White Tiger that was now stalking her.

Then before she could ask Lahar if he wanted a seat, he asked, “First, I need to know—do you have any feelings for him?”

“NO!” Lucy practically shouted at him, but then she immediately regretted her outburst, because how was he really supposed to know?” “Sorry,” she whispered.

He got a slight understanding smile on his face before he added, “It’s fine, but just know I had to ask because I had been hurt before.”

The two met each other’s gaze before Lucy nodded her head in understanding and admitted, “I do understand.” Well she didn’t entirely understand, because she didn’t know all of his past yet, she knew enough about him to know that he didn’t open himself up often. Then she shuffled her stance a bit before she added, “Whatever you want to know about Sting and me, I will tell you. The Cliff Notes version is; he wanted sex, I wanted more, he didn’t, and he didn’t handle it well. So I ended things. That was several months ago now.”

Lahar took a deep breath in and he could sense that Lucy was looking quite nervous about it, he had no doubt in his mind that Lucy had probably felt like she had been stabbed after Sting’s comments about her being damaged goods. A woman that was raised in Lucy’s previous position before Fairy Tail would be viewed that way by many high society people, so even though deep down she knew she wasn’t—the stones that were still cast at her undoubtedly hurt.

So instead of dwelling on Sting’s childlike behavior, he simply put his finger under her chin to hold her face up so that he could look at her warm chocolate eyes and simply stated, “He was a bloody fool to let such a fine woman leave.”

His heart seemed to melt when she gave him a sweet smile as he continued, “But never ever believe what he says about you, because it is not true.”

Then he leaned in to place a kiss on cheek. When he felt her shudder, it made his sadistic side purr in delight before he whispered in her ear, “Because I will worship you in public, adore you, treasure you, protect you, and love you.”

When he ran his fingers on the back of her neck, he leaned over to the other side and placed a slow kiss along the side of her neck before he finished with, “And at home, I will worship you, adore you, treasure you, protect you, love you, and pleasure you like you have never experienced before in her life.”

He could feel her gulp from the intensity of his promise before he pulled away and asked, “Are you ready to go on our first real date?”

Lucy was trying to knock her body out of a state of shock. She wanted to yell no that she wasn’t ready, she wanted to know about this promised pleasure. However, she knew Lahar well enough by now to know he had planned something spectacular for her, so she quickly shook her pervy thoughts away before she replied, “Y-yeah.”

Luckily instincts finally took over, so she grabbed her coat and took her smiling Captain’s arm before they left the warmth of her home to go to a date that Lucy would think about for years to come.

* * *

 

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	11. Snow Fall

**Well I didn’t get LaChy week posted during LaChy week 2018, but that is ok because work and school were more important. I hope to finish this story though within the next few weeks, so stay posted.**

**Thanks everyone and have a safe/happy holiday!!! :D**

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**Snow Fall**

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Lucy stood mesmerized outside of a Christmas lit Botanical Garden dome in the snow. She had heard that this place existed between Magnolia and Hargeon Port; however, she had never fully ventured there on her own. As she stood transfixed outside with Captain Lahar on her arm, she had no idea why she had not ever came here in the past.

Finally the masculine voice of the captain snapped her back into focus when he stated, “I wanted to take you to the planetarium for our first date; however, it was one of the many buildings destroyed during Tartaros, so they are still going under several renovations.”

She took a deep breath and nodded in understanding. While Tartaros struck a chord with her on many levels, she knew that Lahar knew none of those trigger words yet—so she allowed him to escort her into the silent building. As they entered, she couldn’t help but notice that the closed sign said that they closed at 6 p.m. There was barely a half an hour left for the exhibits—surely Lahar knew this…

When they approached the woman behind the counter, Lahar removed his gloves and asked, “I am here to see Mr. Haruka—he is expecting me.”

The woman smiled at the two of them and replied, “Of course, may I tell him who you are?”

“Captain Lahar Wantanabe,” Lahar stated with a strong tone that sent shivers down Lucy’s spine. She had heard stories that dating a man in uniform was a unique experience; however, she hadn’t fully realized it until he spoke with such certainty at his own name. Jesus she was helpless…

The woman bowed to them before she picked up the phone to call Mr. Haruka. As they waited, Lucy couldn’t help but notice how all of the guests were starting to leave. Then she looked up at Captain Lahar who was staring at her with an amused expression. She got a coy smile on her face and asked, “What is it?”

Lahar chuckled slightly before he asked in a lowered tone so that the woman behind the counter couldn’t hear them, “What time does this place close?”

She blinked at him in surprise by the question, because of course that was bothering the hell out of her, before she replied with, “In exactly 15 minutes…”

He leaned in closer to her and his scent instantly washed over her and seemed to calm her rattled nerves before he teased, “Not for us, but I do love your observation skills. I think you could have made a grand Rune Knight.”

To his comment, Lucy couldn’t help but chuckle before she admitted, “The thought crossed my mind many years ago.”

Now it was Lahar’s turn to look surprised; however, before he could question her fully, they both heard the voice of a flamboyant man from behind them shout, “OH MY GOODNESS, LALY, IT IS SO GOOD TO SEE YOU!’

Lucy looked around Lahar to see a very tall man with mint green hair in one of the most dapper suits she had ever seen. The man could have easily been a model. He wore dark grey trousers with a lilac colored dress shirt and topped it all off with a charcoal vest with a rose sticking out of his pocket.

Then Lahar turned towards the man with a warm smile and replied, “Hello Haruka, it is good to see you as well. But how many time have I asked you not to call me Laly?”

The man waved him off and couldn’t have cared less before he retorted sassily, “You should know by now that I do what I want.”

Lucy couldn’t help but smile at the warm interaction between the two before Mr. Haruka grew serious and grabbed his friend’s shoulders and added, “In all serious though, I am glad that you are safe and alive…when I heard that the council had been blown up—I had thought the worst. I was about to come find you and dig you out of the rubble myself, but Hiroto’s work was also destroyed. He’s been an absolutely mess without a job—he’s about to drive me crazy! But I was told after the New Year he would be back to work as usual.”

Lahar nodded his head in understanding before he consoled the man and stated, “I am glad to hear that Hiroto is safe. Also, thank you for caring.”

Haruka smiled at Lahar before he turned to Lucy and beamed, “This must be Miss Heartfilia, correct? My god you are gorgeous!”

“Hello,” Lucy replied with a nervous smile before the man came up and hugged her fiercely.

Lahar shook his head, but Lucy couldn’t help but notice that he had a faint smile on his face as Haruka pulled away and added, “Laly is a lucky man to be on a date with a flower as beautiful as you!”

“Thank you,” Lucy laughed in amusement as Haruka wiped a fake tear away from his eye.

Then he turned back to Lahar and stated, “Everything is prepared and the place is all yours. The west wing has everything set up for whenever you are ready.”

Lahar nodded his head in understanding, but Lucy was very confused, but then Lahar added, “Thanks again, Haruka.”

The man just winked at both Lucy and Lahar before he finished with, “Enjoy your time.”

Lucy then heard that the last calls for the exhibits would be closing in less than five minutes and Haruka disappeared as though he were on a mission somewhere; however, the woman behind the desk then handed Lahar and Lucy special passes and added, “Enjoy the exhibits. Would you like me to take your coats?”

Lucy sat the pass with a lanyard down on the counter as she and Lahar removed their coats and handed them to the gracious hostess. The woman then smiled at them before she ended the conversation with, “When you are ready to leave, one of the workers can retrieve your coats from the back room.”

Lahar thanked the woman as Lucy put the lanyard around her neck, as did Lahar with his own, before the Captain extended his arm once more and then led her past all of the exiting guests. Her heart was pounding loudly as they entered the warm jungle-like room. The mugginess of the room was such a contrast to the chilly Fiore weather that was outside. She looked up and saw how several trees extended towards the dome ceiling and she grinned when she saw that she could still see the snow fall from outside. It was an amazing sight to behold.

Then to her surprise, she heard a loud click and several of the lights began to shut off. She clutched onto Lahar’s arm tighter and then gasped when new lights came on; however, these ones were much different. The tropical room had been transformed into a tropical magical Christmas. The trees were decorated with white Christmas lights and the smaller flowers on the ground all had special lacrima lights near those so that Lucy could still read all of the signs on what type of plants they were. It was absolutely breathtaking.

She turned towards Lahar and stated with a smile, “This is beautiful.”

Lahar had been watching Lucy closely for the last several minutes. He loved how caught up in everything she could get and how innocent she seemed to be. To the untrained eye, it would look like that she had a short attention span; however, he knew better and knew that her brain actually registered everything that fast and she was trying to soak up as much information as possible. He knew if he were to ask her what color the first plant was when they walked in, she would have gotten it right.

Her chocolate eyes were now transfixed upon him in a way that made him want to end the night early so he could worship her body. But he knew that she needed this, actually in all honesty…he needed it too. He needed to be with someone who appreciated his gestures, someone he could pamper, and someone who would cherish him as much as he did them.

After he readjusted his glasses, he leaned down to place a gentle kiss on her head before he replied in a husky tone, “Anything for you, Lucy.”

His dominant side growled in delight when he felt her shudder under his touch. He watched as her cheeks became flushed and she nervously bit her lip. However, this type of lip bite she had wasn’t just from nerves alone—no this one was clearly a sign of being sexually aroused and he had never been with a woman who was both overtly sexual in so many ways…but at the same time seemed completely innocent and pure. Lucy Heartfilia was quite the complex individual and even though he knew he would be the more dominant one in the relationship, he was completely under her spell and he knew that she was the real Master in the room.

* * *

 

Lucy had completely lost track of time as she read and studied as many plants and trees as possible. Lahar was an absolutely wonderful tour guide through the many botanical exhibits. Then as they headed off to a side room, Lucy asked, “So how do you know Haruka? And what did he mean by everything is set up? Was it the lights?”

She watched as Lahar smiled at all of her questions. His smile was absolutely bewitching. From her past encounters with Lahar, she would have assumed that smiling would have been a weakness of his because he showed as much emotion as a stone wall. However, ever since they had been getting to know each other, she was beginning to see all of these layers that nobody else got to experience. It made her feel truly special that he could open up to her in a way that he wouldn’t with others.

“I can explain how I know Haruka in a few moments, but I think it would be easier to explain the other two questions first,” Lahar stated before he opened a door to a dimly lit room.”

She arched her brow at him before he motioned for her to enter. Normally she didn’t like entering unknown, dark rooms, but there was something comforting about Lahar’s presence and she knew that he wouldn’t let anything happen to her.  

After she entered, her body came to a stop out of shock as she tried to soak in her surroundings. The room was beyond romantic as they entered what appeared to be the normal dining area for the botanical gardens; however, it had been transformed into a lacrima candle lit dinner for two. She could hear soft violin music playing and looked up to see how a willow tree had been magically morphed into the wall and into the ceiling with stringed lights hanging down.

“Would you like to have a seat?” Lahar whispered in her ear as she felt his masculine chest press up against her back.

She just nodded her head, because she was still in so much awe. Nobody had done something like this for her before, not even Trimen Eve…

As he held out her seat for her, she gingerly sat down and breathed out in shock, “Lahar…this is…this is just…wow…”

The Captain chuckled slightly as he went to sit across from her and replied, “I told you, anything for you. You are an intelligent and enchanting woman who deserves to be worshipped and adored.”

“Why?” Lucy asked and Lahar noticed that her mood shifted and her facial expression fell slightly. Her brows became furrowed and he felt like time had stopped for the briefest of moments. True anger arose in his system, not because of Lucy, but because he genuinely saw how much self-doubt she had in herself. She truly could not see how wonderful she was. No that wasn’t it…she had so much confidence in telling him off on the first date when he acted like a jackass. No this was something else…it was almost like she knew she could catch just about any man’s eyes with her smile and her sweetness, but it was as though she didn’t have faith that men could do anything more than treat her superficially. He knew that it would take several years on his part to help rectify the buffoons that were in her life prior to him—Sting for example. However, no matter what…he was up for the challenge because he wanted her to see herself the way in which he now viewed her—which was a goddess. He wanted to help guide her through life, not just sexually, but guide her in the sense that he could show her everything that she was capable of and he would be the strong arms and mind to shield her from the cruel reality of the world. He wanted to be her safe refuge.

Lahar gently unfolded his napkin before he sat it in his lap and stated with a firm, yet also loving, tone, “Lucy, the other night—didn’t I ask you to not compare me to someone from your past?”

He watched as she shuffled uncomfortably and he suddenly realized that he should have eased her into his dominant side a little easier, because she wasn’t used to dating someone like him. Someone who actually knew what he wanted and wasn’t afraid to take it. He was not a man-child like Sting Eucliffe.

However, to quickly rectify his actions so that she could have a wonderful evening was of the upmost importance right now as he reached across the table and took her hand and apologized, “I am sorry, I did not mean to sound so forceful a second ago.”

The blonde looked at him nervously and gave him a slight nod, that it was ok for him to continue, before he added, “To me, you deserve everything your heart desires. You are kind, thoughtful, and warm. Any man who didn’t do this for you before was a complete moron. On the other hand, I am somewhat relieved nobody has done this for you.”

She tilted her head slightly before she asked, “What do you mean?”

He smiled at her warmly before he admitted, “Because I get to be your first and your last in so many things.”

He watched as her eyes widened and she fidgeted in her seat, no doubt to relieve the uncomfortable feeling between her thighs because of the deep shade of red that now coated her face. Yes he would soon fill her up with himself, but now he needed to make sure her emotional needs were being met. He cleared his throat before he added, “Lucy, I want you to know that you are free to be who you are with me. If I ever do something to make you uncomfortable, let me know immediately so that I can learn from my mistake. Likewise I will do the same to you—my first concern is how you doubt my intentions. How can I prove to you that I see you in a way that no other man has ever?”

He gave her a few moments to think and even signaled for their waiter for the evening to hold off so that she could gather her thoughts before she finally admitted, “Lahar, I am not sure. If you want me to be honest with you…you scare me.”

“In what way?” he asked in a serious tone, because that was the last thing that he wanted to do.

She chuckled halfheartedly before she replied honestly, “Well for starters, most men my age are douchebags. They either want to put a baby in me right now, with little or no concern for my feelings on the matter, or they want to have open relationships. Neither of those things appeal to me in any sort of way.”

He nodded his head in understanding before he inquired, “And where do I fit in on this scale?”

“You don’t,” she said with a smile and a steady voice, “You are someone who I have never encountered before. Your intelligence matches, if not exceeds my own, and you know what you want. I thought I knew what I wanted, but you seemed to have shaken every belief I thought I once had. Because you are so unlike anything I have ever encountered before, it is both thrilling and terrifying.”

Part of him felt extremely proud of her praise, yet the other part of him felt defeated because Lucy had a lot of barriers he would need to tear down. However, as he admired her large brown eyes, he knew without a doubt that she was worth it. He smiled at her before he admitted, “I will restate what I said the other night, and I am here as long as you will have me. All of those praises you gave me, I feel the same towards you. I understand that maybe the brutish man from earlier tonight may have shaken you a bit, but know I will always be here for you—as long as you’ll have me. We will take things as fast or as slow as you want them to. I am irrevocably yours.”

He could tell that she looked a bit put out, but also incredibly flustered, before she replied in a low voice, “You say things like that…and how can you be so certain when we haven’t been together that long? It makes no sense…”

“Are you someone who lies about who you are?” Lahar asked with an arch to his brow.

“No,” Lucy stated honestly, “I am who I am.”

Lahar gave her a firm nod before he added, “As am I and I can see that in you as well. You don’t have to believe me yet, and I get that you have been lied to, so how about for now I just show you with both my words and actions that I say what I mean and mean what I say?”

“Ok,” Lucy replied with a faint smile just as Lahar motioned for the waiter to assist them.

This would take a while, and Lahar was ok with that. The only thing that upset him was that someone so beautiful could have so much self-doubt and how people would treat her. However, with what he did know about her past…it made a lot of sense. Still, if he could whip her old teammates, Sting, and probably her own family then he would. However, the person who needed him the most and the person he needed to stay calm for sat across from him like an angel sent from the heavens above and he would do everything within his power to protect and love her.

* * *

 

Lucy was having a delightful evening. She had felt slightly bad she had been so hard on Lahar, but trust was not something she gave up easily anymore. Instead she would play this one cautious, because she wasn’t sure her heart could handle any more heartbreak or loss. A lot of her reservation could have been because of how Sting had actually came to her house and shook up all of her fragile nerves. But something else in her made her hesitate with Lahar. His absolute confidence almost intimidated her. While she had loved spending every minute with him the other night at his house, being with him today and him doing all of these nice things for her…it made her afraid that she would lose him one day too. But unlike Sting…losing someone like Lahar made her feel like there would be no coming back from that one…

As they dined upon their decadent dinner, Lucy had learned all sorts of things about Lahar’s past. The first part being with how he had become friends with Haruka early in their primary school years. Lahar had been the first to pick up on that Haruka was attracted to the same sex and unlike the other bullies in school, Lahar had welcomed him as a friend and saw nothing wrong with it. To the point where he even admitted to Lucy about how he and Haruka had gotten into a fight with a group of older kids that were bullying Haruka. However, Lucy soon realized how big of a stance that was because she found out that both Lahar and Haruka came from wealthy families that both wanted them to marry girls of other wealthy families when they were both 14 years old—needless to say neither of those things happened because Lahar helped Haruka escape.

Lucy sat and listened to his story, surprised by how similar it was to her own, before Lahar asked, “Earlier you said something about joining the Rune Knights. What did you mean by that?”

She had just finished off her first glass of wine when she smiled and replied, “Well, similar to you, I grew up in a wealthy family that wanted to make a lot of my decisions. When I was contemplating running away, my first choice was to run to Fairy Tail, obviously, because it had been my dream for so long.”

Lahar smiled at her honesty and while he didn’t understand it entirely, he could appreciate it, before she added, “Another option I thought about was joining the Rune Knights to help people.”

His brows rose at her at her admittance before he asked, “And what stopped you from pursuing that?”

She took a deep breath before she admitted, “Well…I didn’t want anyone to know my last name after I ran away from home. I knew I’d have to give it if I wanted to be a Rune Knight, or I’d have to lie and then they would find out quickly either from my father or from their own sources that I lied and then I would have been right back to where I started.”

Lahar nodded his head in understanding before he asked, “And your father wanted to marry you off as well?”

“Yes,” Lucy replied with a sad smile, “After my Mama died, my Father became very consumed with work and we grew apart.”

Lahar remained quiet as the waiter came over and refilled their drinks before he admitted when the waiter walked away, “My Mother did something very similar after the passing of my Father.”

Lucy’s eyes widened as she listened to Lahar open up, “She was consumed with me marrying another woman to the point where she didn’t care when she married me off at the age of 15 to a woman 10 years older than me. She was concerned that she would lose all of the wealth my father had and thought that by marrying me off to another family would ensure that she could remain powerful.”

She tried not to gasp at the news and instead she felt a deep compassion and understanding, because that could have been her too, before she whispered, “Lahar, I am so sorry.”

He gave her a warm smile before he admitted, “It is in the past and we shall speak no more of such sadness. Thankfully my Mother has remarried and has others to occupy her time now.”

Lucy could tell that Lahar was not ready to speak anymore on the subject, but she could tell that he was deeply bothered by it all. So instead of asking more, she held up her wine glass to him and stated, “Here’s to us, being free and living our dreams—and also for finding one another.”

He gave her a warm smile before he held up his glass and added, “And to a wonderful future together.”

She gave him such a warm smile that his heart melted on the spot. Then after they took a sip of their drink, the waiter came up quickly and stated, “Captain Wantanabe, I am very sorry to interrupt but you should be made aware that a Winter Weather Advisory has just been called out for this area. Within the next hour, a large blizzard will hit and it will halt all forms of transportation. If we don’t leave now…we may all be trapped here.”

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	12. Cosplay

**Happy New Year’s! Here’s a short blip I wanted to get out to everyone before some of the big stuff happens!**

**Thanks everyone for your support! :D**

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 “Oh no!” Lucy exclaimed as she turned to the waiter, “Will you all be able to make it home safely?!”

Lahar smiled at how Lucy’s first instinct was to worry about others’ well-being over her very own—especially since the server was warning them. The waiter blushed a little at Lucy’s kindness before he nodded and added, “We all live about ten minutes away; however, aren’t you both much further?”

Lucy turned to Lahar and the Captain quickly rose before he replied, “We will leave immediately, so that you may close everything down and get safely to your homes.”

The waiter bowed to him before he added, “We are so very sorry. Do you have a place to go?”

Lahar just held up his hand before he responded with, “There is nothing to be sorry for. Everyone’s safety is more important right now. If we leave now, it sounds like we will make it back safely to Magnolia. Thank you for both your concern and hospitality this evening, I will let Haruka know that he has an excellent team.”

Lucy felt her heart grow warm at how selfless Lahar was and how easily he snapped into his Captain-like persona. She quickly took his hand so that he could escort her back to the main building while the waiter signaled for everyone to get their personal belongings and shut everything down, that needed to be, before they all left.

As one of the wait staff grabbed their coats for them, Lahar pulled out a small lacrima device to check on the weather. Lucy removed her lanyard as the wait staff grabbed their coats for them before she asked Lahar, “So you think we will make it back to Magnolia before it hits?”

He studied the weather patterns intensely before he responded, “Yes, if we leave now and there are no delays—but if something were to happen, there are plenty of inns between here and Magnolia.”

The blonde nodded as he helped her with her coat and together they quickly exited the best first real date Lucy had ever had…even if it was a tad unconventional.

As the two walked in the snow together, Lucy could tell that the wind had picked up a lot. As they made their way to the magical vehicle that Lahar had rented for them to bring here, it felt like she was on top of Mount Hakobe. It was becoming slightly more difficult to walk; however, Lahar helped to keep her balanced. His touches were firm yet gentle, but Lucy could sense that something was bothering him greatly because the corners of his mouth were beginning to go down. He was no longer just Captain Lahar.

After he opened the door for her and let her in, she couldn’t help but shiver and audibly chatter, “Brrrrrrrrrrrr…”

After Lahar had gone around and climbed into the driver’s seat, he stated to her, “Your house is about a thirty minute drive from here, but I’m afraid with how the wind is blowing that it has most likely closed several of the roads.”

Lucy shivered again in agreement before she agreed, “It makes sense. Do we need to find a place to stay?”

“We will see,” Lahar replied in a serious tone, “However, we will start to head towards your house.”

Lucy nodded but didn’t reply, because something had come over Lahar. He was definitely in Extreme Safety Mode as he began to drive away from the botanical garden. She tried to take a steadying breath as she looked ahead at the rode, because something in her heart made her incredibly anxious and it was starting to make her feel sick. She wasn’t sure if it was just the weather or if it was how Lahar’s demeanor suddenly changed. It kind of reminded her of all of the times he wanted to arrest her team, so it sort of intimidated her. But it was something else too…then she remembered…any time Sting’s mood suddenly changed was when he was about to get super distant and then bring up the open relationship nonsense. It made her want to throw up the lovely dinner she just ate at the memory of it and the thought of Lahar doing something similar.

As the two sat there in silence, Lucy barely registered her own frown as she tried to remind herself that Lahar and Sting with nothing alike. Lahar kept asking her to not compare him to other men, but that was easier said than done since a lot of guys acted the same—stupid as hell. The thought of losing Lahar, when he was such a good man, the thought already hurt her heart and that terrified her. She shouldn’t have fallen for someone so easily. Yet she really couldn’t take back the drunken voice text that really triggered it all. Damn technology. Still…she felt frightened not necessarily by the man himself, but of the possibility of the huge hole he could leave in her heart.

“Lucy,” Lahar stated calmly.

She blinked in surprise of the silence being broken before she felt one of his hands on hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. She looked over at him and saw that his mouth had perked up a bit before he informed her, “I can tell your mind went to a dark place again, was it because my demeanor changed?”

Her body practically flinched from the shock of his accuracy. Now she felt foolish because he had caught her in the act of self-doubt. Then before she could reply his voice lowered, but the smirk apparent on his face, “Just know, if you ever lie to me—even about something silly, I will punish you.”

Her eyes widened and she had to squeeze her thighs together to keep the gusher from between her legs from exploding. Was he being serious about the punishment? By the look on his face, he certainly seemed to be. Well punishment in the good way of course…like bending her over and dominating her or swatting her ass for being a naughty girl…well at least she hoped that is what he meant.

Then before her mind went in the exact opposite direction of where it had been previously, and before she left a wet mark on the rental seat, she cleared her throat nervously before she smiled slightly and admitted, “Yes…I’m sorry.”

Lahar squeezed her hand gently once more before he put it back on the steering wheel and replied, “It is understandable for you to have those thoughts now because we are still learning about each other. I apologize for the sudden change, but when people’s lives are in my hands, especially someone I care about, I take it very seriously. I was already calculating all of the different scenarios in my mind for keeping you safe and warm tonight. Believe me, I would rather have my hands all over you right now than death gripping the wheel of this vehicle.”

Lucy couldn’t help but smile wider. Her chest was warm from his concern before she reached out and gently touched his arm and added, “Thank you, Lahar. I appreciate the clarification and appreciate your concern. Now that I know you will have this demeanor in the future, it most likely will be one of my biggest turn-ons.” So she had had some wine at the botanical garden (don’t judge her) that allowed her to be a little more lose lipped than she normally was. She watched as Lahar’s brow rose in curiosity, and the smirk still apparent on his face, before she giggled and asked, “So can you clarify something for me?”

“What’s that?” Lahar asked in a lowered voice that almost sounded like a sexy growl.

Lucy smirked deviously at him before she scooted closer and then traced her finger up his arm before she purred out, “What did you mean by punish?”

She removed her physical touch from him, since he was driving a vehicle and they needed to stay safe, but eagerly awaited his response. She watched as he shuffled uncomfortably in his seat, no doubt readjusting the large bulge in his pants. If they weren’t so focused on getting home safely in the snow, she had every inclination to lean over, unzip his pants, and suck on him the rest of the way just to hear the moans he would make.

She watched as Lahar’s knuckles flexed as he gripped the wheel tighter before he replied in a dominating tone, “First, I will excuse your insecurities for now, because I understand you need to learn to trust me and likewise, I need to know I can trust you. However, once we finally reach that point in our relationship, if you doubt my love or my intentions with you—then you will be bent over my knee as a punishment for doubting yourself or me.”

LOVE?! Lucy sat there in both shock and arousal. Did he really mean to say that? Then as though he knew her thoughts, he added in a husky voice, “Yes, Lucy, I chose my words very carefully. I did mean to say love.”

Hot damn this man was unreal. Part of her wanted to push him a little…just so she could see if he would punish her tonight. The tension between her thighs was nearly overwhelming her and it wasn’t fair. She felt like he was holding all of the cards. She had to get a few of them back, because she wanted to play too. She didn’t want to be totally submissive to him just yet.

Then Lahar pulled out the lacrima device from before out of his pocket and his seriousness returned when he asked her, “Could you check the weather? If I calculated this correctly, we are about 10 minutes from the Magnolia train station.”

She nodded in agreement as she accepted the device and began to look up the weather information. Her eyes widened at the huge white swirls that were headed straight towards Magnolia, but she was relieved that it wasn’t supposed to hit there until after they got to her place. “We are still good for now, but I think it might be a really windy walk to my house,” Lucy admitted before she turned the device off and looked at Lahar and added with a confident tone, “And you Captain, are staying with me.”

His brows rose at her command before she giggled and added, “Chances are you will have to stay tomorrow night too.”

She saw the evident smile on his face before he asked, “The weather that bad?”

“Yes,” Lucy nodded in certainty, “Besides, if there are lots of people in Magnolia tonight, chances are you wouldn’t be able to find a room anyways.”

“That is a very true statement,” Lahar replied with a smile at all of her reasons for trying to get him to stay at her house, “And I appreciate your hospitality.”

Lucy handed him back his device as she thought to herself; ‘ _Oh you just wait and see how hospitable I am, Captain Sexy Ass.’_

* * *

 

The two made it back to Magnolia safely, and as Lahar returned the rental vehicle, Lucy couldn’t help but blink in amazement at the huge crowd at the train station. All of the trains leaving had been cancelled for the night and they already cancelled the ones for tomorrow morning. With magic, everything was fine, but the storm wasn’t supposed to let up and it had already knocked out several lacrima reservoirs of energy to keep the trains going. It would take them a while to get them back up and running.

The crowd of colorful people, dressed in all sorts of costumes, were annoyed an outraged at the sudden winter storm. Then Lucy saw Cana, Mira, and Lisanna in the crowd, who were also dressed up. Cana was dressed up as Alice and Wonderland, and had a huge bottle of alcohol with her, and Lisanna and Mira were dressed as the Cheshire Cat and the White Rabbit—respectively of course. Then Cana shouted out to everyone, “HEY COSPLAYERS! YOU CAN STAY AT FAIRY TAIL TONIGHT! FIRST ROUND OF DRINKS IS ON THE HOUSE!”

The crowd erupted in cheers as everyone began to exit the station and head towards Fairy Tail. Lucy just laughed and shook her head at the silliness of her friends and was glad that she would soon be going home with one of the sexiest men she had ever met. Then like magic, she felt his strong hand touch the mid of her back before he laughed, “Well you were correct, all of the inns are full. Apparently there is a Cosplay Convention in town tonight too and there weren’t enough rooms for everyone.”

Lucy just giggled before she told him, “Fairy Tail took care of them. I have a feeling it is going to be a pretty wild night there.”

“Ah,” Captain Lahar stated with a grin still on his face.

Then before he could say anything else to fluster her, Lucy took a deep breath and before she lost her courage, she met his amethyst eyes and purred out, “So, do you want to go home and try out this punishment thing on me?”

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	13. Criminal

**I apologize for any typos, as you are probably aware...I’ve updated A LOT today and have been struggling with an illness.**

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**Criminal**

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She watched as Lahar’s eyes widened before a sense of hunger seemed to envelope them both. He wrapped his arm around her before he smirked, “I’d very much like that if you are ready.”

“Absolutely,” she whispered back to him before he captivated her lips with his as the snow continued to fall around them.

Suddenly they were shoved, breaking apart their kiss, because of the mass exodus of people trying to leave the train station. Luckily Lahar had caught her in his arms, but she could tell he was very annoyed that someone had ruined their nearly perfect moment.

She looked up to see the offending party, it was a man dressed up as a sexy male fox with ears and everything, but no clothing other than some biker gloves, thigh high boots, and very tight red boy shorts with a furry tail attached. He gave her a foxy grin before he apologized, “Sorry, Beautiful,” then he turned towards Lahar and winked before he added, “Make sure to fuck her real good tonight.”

She found the whole thing to be somewhat humorous because the man was clearly intoxicated; however, Lahar looked very annoyed and then pulled out handcuffs from somewhere, but the Fox Man was already walking away. She gently placed her hand on his arm and stated, “Lahar, its ok. You don’t need to arrest him—he’s not _really_ a criminal.”

“He was completely vulgar,” Lahar sighed out. She watched carefully as his demeanor softened before he looked at her and apologized, “Sorry, it’s just after the Sting thing—I don’t like men objectifying you.”

Her heart melted a little at his honesty before she thanked him, “I appreciate how kind and fair you are…” then their eyes met before she smirked and added, “But wouldn’t those handcuffs be better used on my punishment? Plus he did give you some excellent advice…”

He acknowledged that she really was ok with the stranger’s crack so he simply smiled and pulled her closer to him and replied, “Yes, I think the only real crime here is if I keep you out here in the cold any longer without making passionate love to you tonight.”

“Lead the way, Captain,” she moaned and he didn’t need any further coaxing as he grabbed her hand and they began to make their way to her house.

* * *

 

Getting home was almost an adventure in itself. About midway through, Lahar had made Lucy climb on his back as he trudged through the snow. He had put up runes to help with the wind, but the snow that had already fallen to the ground was remarkable. Normal landmarks she would always look at on her way home were buried deep in the wintery mix.

When they finally reached her place, he gently sat her down as they moved the snow away from her front door, as best as possible, before she unlocked the door and let them in.

She shivered as she began to take off her layers and screeched when she stepped in a cold patch of snow that had gotten inside.

She watched as Lahar took off his scarf before she leaned up on her tiptoes and stated, “I’m going to put some hot tea on for us. This weather is ridiculous!”

“Hot tea sounds quite lovely,” Lahar thanked her as he tried to soak everything in.

“What kind do you want? I think I have some chamomile, chai, or green right now,” she asked as she began to head towards her kitchen before she added, “And please make yourself at home!”

He smiled warmly as he saw her disappear into her kitchen before he replied, “Green would be much appreciated.” Then he did as he was instructed and began to admire her warm and inviting home.

His mind tried to register as many details as possible as he heard her opening cupboard doors in her kitchen. He noticed that the flowers he had gotten her the other day were still looking gorgeous so he was very thankful for the additional money he spent on keeping the flowers alive long past their time. Then he noticed her mantle place in the living room. In the center was a picture of a young Lucy with what he assumed to be her parents. He smiled at how lovely the family looked and then he took in the other knickknacks on the mantle. There were vases with Christmas decorations; garland; silver deer. Everything was so meticulously placed but he expected nothing less from such a fine woman.

When he turned around, he saw her leaning against the frame between the living room and her kitchen with a large smile on her face. He couldn’t hide his own smile when she mused, “You are like my very own Sherlock Holmes. I love it.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle as he took a seat on her couch before he asked, “How so?”

She began to saunter over towards him before she sat down next to him, with her knees tucked under her, and elaborated, “You are trying to get every little bit of information you can about me from what I have in my home in hopes to learn something else about me. It’s quite romantic!”

He smirked and nodded in admittance before he asked, “If I’m Sherlock, then you must be Irene.”

The reference gave her an even larger smile before he added, “However, in my version I am in not just admiration of you—I do have feelings of love.”

She nearly swooned on the spot that he knew that it was only modern adaptations that made Sherlock and Irene lovers. However, she couldn’t hide her blush that he did have feelings of love too before she gently kissed him and added, “And talk like that is making me fall even harder for you, Captain Lahar.”

He chuckled lowly before he gently placed a kiss on her before he asked, “Do tell?”

“The fact that you knew the original version contained no intimacy between the two,” she stated with a kiss before she added, “And the fact that you didn’t compare me to that abhorrent new _Sherlock_ adaptation. Gods I hate that version.”

He nodded his head in agreement before he added, “Of course. May I ask why you hate the newest version though—especially with so much passion?”

He couldn’t hide his smile as he watched her light up in excitement as she began to discuss feminism and sexuality. He loved watching her defend the argument how that Irene adaptation was not only a far cry from the actual one but how they turned her into a hypersexual object that ultimately needed saved by the white male.

She had talked for a good solid thirty minutes and they had even taken the conversation into the kitchen so she could pour their tea. She was really a remarkable woman and then her eyes widened after she turned off the stove and she smiled at him and simply stated, “Thank you.”

“For what?” he continued to smile as he blew on his hot tea.

“For letting me talk your ear off about something I am passionate about,” she smiled.

To that he nodded in agreement before he took her hand in his and squeezed it, “I’ll never get bored of you talking and if you are particularly passionate about something, I most certainly want to know.”

 Their highly sexual innuendos from before almost seemed to disappear, but their flirting did not, as Lucy showed him her house, her writing area, and little things that were important to her. He noticed in particular a box that she did not discuss, so he didn’t bring it up when she took their cups and washed them.

Then she turned off the lights so that only the candles she had lit, the Christmas lights, and the now lit fireplace were the only things illuminating the world around them. She looked like a goddess in the warm glow of the lights as they sat down together on her couch.

Nothing in that moment needed to be said as she placed her lips to his. He let out a low groan as their lips began to move in unison. He felt her melt in his arms as she securely placed them around her to allow her closer into his space. He wanted to cherish this moment forever. She had welcomed him into her home, showed him things that were meaningful to her, and was still willing to take a chance on him after she had been hurt. He really did want to forever treasure her.

“Lucy,” he stated in a husky voice.

“Hmm?” she looked at him with hooded eyes of desire.

“I vow to you now that I will never break your trust,” he whispered.

He felt her shudder and watched as she bit her lip before she kissed him gently back and added, “I vow that to you too.”

He smiled as she came at him with such passion that his pants were becoming painfully tight. Then as quickly as she captivated him, she pulled away and gave him a mischievous smile before she asked, “Can you do me a favor?”

He nodded his head and she quickly popped up and scooted her farm style coffee table out of the way so that there was a very large space on her rug in front of the fireplace before she pointed and stated, “Over there are several fuzzy blankets. Would you mind making a pallet for us as I run upstairs and get something?”

“I’d be glad to,” he smiled and nodded just before she kissed him on the cheek and pranced up the stairs.

It didn’t take him long to lay out a mixture of the blankets. She had quite the assortment of fuzzy soft blankets and he grabbed some pillows off of the couch and gently placed them down too. His heart was racing a like a damn teenager and it only got worse when he turned around to see Lucy coming back down the stairs. Her hair was pulled back in a messy bun, but he barely registered that because he was entranced by the smooth swell of her hips that led up towards her hourglass figure and heaven sent breasts that were wrapped like a present for him. He tried to swallow but he suddenly found he had no moisture in his mouth as Lucy appeared before him in a red see-through thong and a red and white see-through Santa lingerie. Her body was incredible and what some would consider flaws, some cellulite from her shapely thighs, or stretch marks from her bountiful breasts, he found them all to be wonderful because those marks are what made her the beautiful woman that she is.

He now definitely felt like a flustered teen as she sauntered over and mused, “I saw the look you had in your eyes when I eyed this in the store window at Crocus.”

He was normally a very eloquently spoken man, but he felt as though he were under some enchantress’s spell as Lucy came closer to him with a devious little smile before she pleaded, “Now, will you use those handcuffs on me and give me that punishment we were discussing earlier?”

He finally found his voice again when he pulled her closer and growled, “Absolutely.”

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